PRIDE IS A KILLER
1 Sam 17-20
Remember Saul, he started practically from nowhere. When God chose him as leader of His people, he was so unsure of himself. In fact he hid. With time he got over this, and started to experience the empowerment of God that brought him success as he listened to the voice of the Holy Spirit through Prophet Samuel. Unfortunately, his downfall came when he refused to obey the Lord. Pride had set in.
From the above passage, we see King Saul gradually exhibiting traits of pride and haughtiness of heart as he failed to settle and come to terms with God as touching his display of impatience and offering the burnt sacrifice, in destroying all the inhabitants of Amalek as instructed. Although, he was afterwards remorseful, but all tended towards self-gratification seeing that he began to think highly of himself.
One foolish assumption to make as individuals and particularly, as leaders, is to wrongly believe that the presence of God is still with one, when already His presence has departed from him/her. King Saul was oblivious of the reality that God’s presence had deserted him just as it was in the case of Samson. Contrary to the Spirit of God that dwelt in Saul, an evil spirit was sent from the Lord to torment him, and he could only be calmed through David’s harps.
The absence of the fruit of the Spirit in a man’s life is equal to the presence of the works of the flesh in which situation the devil can only be in charge once God is not seated on the throne of one’s heart. So, is the case of many believers among the body of Christ today who are filled with anger, bitterness, envy, hatred, jealousy, malice, and to cap it up, pride. King Saul soon forgot the principle of success by his successor, and instead gave in to pride thinking that the victory of the Israelites against Goliath could only come from him. This eventually led to his hatred towards David and his death as well.
As believers, we must take cognizance of the following tips about pride;
- Pride kills
- Pride goes before a fall
- It is pride to look down on others
- It is pride not to admit your mistakes
- Pride withdraws us from God’s presence
- It is pride not to acknowledge the God-factor in your life
- Pride births envy, hatred, jealousy, malice, strife, variance, etc.
PRAYER: Lord, deliver me from PRIDE. Help me always acknowledge the help of God in all that I do.
