Jim Henry

__Isaiah 2:11 reads, *“The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.”*__

The sin of pride made its first appearance in the Garden of Eden and it has harmed our fellowship with God ever since. 

A distinction is made between the __*sin*__ of pride and what is described as “taking pride,” perhaps in our children or for doing a job well. For that, the word “satisfaction” might be used, rather than pride.

There’s nothing wrong with taking satisfaction in your job or your family, if you always remember to give God the glory. He did, after all, give them both to you, along with everything else you possess. Even the ability to earn money is a gift from God.

The Bible warns of pride that is quite different, disobedient and destructive. We read in Proverbs 16:18, *“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”*

C.S. Lewis wrote that pride is the “Great Sin” that leads to all the others because it exalts the self over God. 1 John 2:16 tells us, *“For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father … but is from the world.”*

## The sin of pride can be described as having an exaggerated view of yourself without regard for others. History shows that from the Tower of Babel to the Titanic, pride has proven disastrous. 

Pride is easy to spot in other people, but difficult to see in ourselves because it’s one sin that whispers you don’t have it. Jesus says in Matthew 7:5, *“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.”*

We give in to the sin of pride when we become critical of others, another way of exalting ourselves. Pride is spiritually deadly, but also toxic to our finances when we fail to manage money according to God’s principles.

The first and most important of those is that God owns everything and we’re simply managers or stewards. Pride tells us that we own the things God has entrusted to us and we can do with them as we please.

Pride leads to a range of bad financial decisions, from refusing to shop at discount stores to buying an unnecessarily expensive house. Proverbs 29:23 reads, *“One's pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.”*

Perhaps the most common example is running up credit card debt. Often folks will say they had no choice, but more likely it's because deep down, they feel they deserve a higher lifestyle than God has provided. 

Fortunately, the Bible says that as God resists the proud, He also gives grace to the humble. For most of us, humility doesn’t come naturally. We have to work at it, in our finances and elsewhere.

God’s Word encourages us and teaches us how to be humble, first before Him as we read in James 4:10, *“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”*

## We must also be humble toward one another. Here, Jesus’ second great commandment is key:  “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

And Paul states in Ephesians 4:2, *“With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love."*

By thinking more highly of others and extending grace to them, we humble ourselves and allow God to extend grace to us.

__Finally, financial generosity is another way to express humility. Done in the proper spirit, giving puts pride aside and allows us to think more highly of others. Proverbs 19:17 says *“Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.”*__

__Listen to the related podcast on this topic in our [Radio](https://www.moneywise.org/radio/) section or [search](https://www.moneywise.org/search/) for it on our website.__

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Articles

The sin of pride made its first appearance in the Garden of Eden and it has harmed our fellowship with God ever since.

VERSES | Aug 10, 2021

The Sin of Pride

By: Jim Henry

Where Faith Meets Finance

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