Give no place to pride.  The Bible says to give no place to the devil. Pride is one of the devil’s subtle tools that he uses to bring destruction into our lives. He begins in areas that seem insignificant leading a person deeper and deeper into self-satisfying lifestyle until they eventually and openly walk away from God.

Pride will Puff up, making a person think they are above others, above correction, and even above the law of God.  Pride deceives the heart.  (Obadiah 1:3)

Pride will cause a person to think that their own Righteousness is good; when the Bible says our own righteousness is filthy like rags – meaning like dirty rags.

Pride will keep a person Interested only in themselves; not looking how to serve others but how to get others to serve them.

Pride will bring about the Denial of Christ starting in the little things in secret behind closed doors like what a person watches on television, or the type of music one listens to, and the language one uses, or the books they read, making them think it doesn’t matter what they do when no one is looking. Ecclesiastes 12:14 informs us that God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Pride causes a person to Exalt themselves, taking the glory that belongs only to God.  Psalm 66:7 tells us that it is the rebellious that exalt themselves.

Pride is an awful characteristic and the downfall of many, and everyone has to guard against it.  Some people are able to keep it at bay so it doesn’t show up outwardly (maybe for a while) but still it brings lack into their lives in areas they may not realize.

The antidote to pride is humility.  We are instructed in James 4:10 to humble ourselves before God.  Certainly, humility is recognizing God for who He is and what He has done in our lives, but it is also recognizing that we are and have nothing without God.  Humility changes our heart from being self-absorbed to being on fire for God; allowing Him to change us into His image of love, mercy, and forgiveness.

Let us continually ask God to search our heart and reveal to us if any wicked way-any pride has taken root – and expel it with repentance, and make a new commitment to acknowledge God in every area of our lives, even in the secret places behind closed doors. For more study, check out my post, Don’t Let Pride Stop Your Provision

Proverbs 16:18 – pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Isaiah 64:6 – but we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags.

Psalm 10:4 – the wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God; God is not in all his thoughts.

James 4:10 – humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.