Pride comes before a fall

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Living with joy”

Our Bible verse for today: “If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more.” Philippians 3:4 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Pride comes before a fall”

Pridefulness is a joy-stealer. It is selfish and self-centered and results in a person being preoccupied with themselves. In Philippians 3:4-11 Paul has left his discussion about the dangers of legalism and what a joy-stealer that is, and he shifts his focus to the dangers of pride, and what a joy-stealer it can be. We humans tend to take pride in who we are and in what we have done, and that often leads us to the false assumption that those things – who we are and what we have accomplished, make us better than others and more acceptable to God. It’s a lie.

In Paul’s case he had about the most impressive pedigree a Jew of his day could have. He had been raised in a good Jewish home, he could trace his heritage back to Jacob’s youngest son Benjamin, he was educated and served as a Pharisee, and he was zealous in keeping the Law – to the point of obsession. But none of that made him righteous – instead it just made him mean. Paul, as the Pharisee Saul, was a fire-breathing fundamentalist who stormed around pronouncing judgment on others, breaking up Christian meetings, arresting the followers of Jesus, and even presiding over their executions. His religious fervor just made him a mean and angry man.

But Paul’s point here was that none of the things he just cited about himself made him acceptable in the eyes of God. His religious fervor didn’t, his great education didn’t, his professional achievements didn’t – there was nothing he was or had achieved that made him acceptable in God’s eyes. It was his faith in Christ that did it. Therefore, Paul considered everything else to be rubbish and unimportant by comparison to his faith in Christ.

At one time in Paul’s life all those things did matter to him – a lot. He was excessively proud of his Jewish heritage, and of his education, and of his professional achievements, and of his position as a Pharisee. And he did believe those things made him more acceptable in God’s eyes and better than everyone else. But they didn’t. It was a lie.

Your situation is probably different from Paul’s. Your credentials aren’t the same as his. You aren’t from the tribe of Benjamin. But you are from the USA, a “Christian” nation, right? How proud of you of that. Are you a better person and more acceptable to God because you were born in the USA instead of in Zimbabwe?

You probably weren’t raised in a strict Jewish home, but how about in a strict Christian home? Are you more pleasing and acceptable to God because your childhood home had a Bible and your family went to church?

Maybe you didn’t sit at the feet of the great Rabbi Gamaliel and receive the best education available to a Jewish boy in Paul’s day, but have you gone to college and do you have some degrees? Does your education make you better than anyone else and more acceptable to God? And maybe you haven’t been a Pharisee, but have you had some professional success of which you are proud of? You get the point.

Solomon taught in Proverbs 16:18 that pride comes before a fall. In other words, excessive pride sets us up for a fall. It did for Paul when he was Saul the Pharisee and it can have the same effect in your life and mine. Pride is dangerous and it is a joy-stealer.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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