Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
The middle word of prIde is I !
In teaching through the Bible again, God always shows me completely different things. It takes a long time to teach the Bible. Families change, friends come and go. Donors as well. The emphasis this go around (only in Genesis 4 now is the word ‘I’. Pride and I go good together. Notice the strongest sound in the word pride is ‘I’.)
People go to heaven because they believe. People go to hell if they don’t. Sin (also has ‘I’in the middle too, incidentally) doesn’t send you to hell. Pride is sin. Pride actually is said to be the original sin. It was the sin of Satan, that got him kicked out of heaven.
I always hear Christians they’re proud. Proud of America. Proud that they’re saved, proud how they believe. Proud of their devotions. Proud that they haven’t missed church in 20 years. Sin! All of it!
Pride isn’t only shown when someone says they’re proud. Pride is shown when someone says they are humble. Pride is shown when someone says how they are better than someone else (also known as judging.. Pride is said when someone uses I, me and mine a lot in conversations. Prideful people say ‘I’ entirely too much. Listen for it.
Pride murders needlessly. Women murder babies to keep their girlish figures (for a few years). Pride murders friendships, careers and family. Pride calls other people a fool, therefore as Jesus says, is in danger of going to hell.
And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” Matthew 5:22
Pride (after Satan) was first manifested on earth in the life of Cain. Cain was Eve’s first born, and probably Idolized. Remember God had said something about a woman’s seed being the hero of the world. Eve didn’t know that only her great granddaughter María was going to have a seed in her. She thought God was talking about her. She thought Cain was going to be the Savior of the world. Cain focused on working the land with the fruit of his brow. He fed his mom and dad, and they praised him I am sure for bringing food home. His younger brother Abel was a shepherd. It took longer for him to provide a meal for his parents than Cain did. Abel was not Cain. There was some animosity, for how long before it peaked, no one knows, but it did come to a horrible end. Cain was slowly realizing that he wasn’t perfect. Eve and Adam probably did too. Cain was just another imperfect kid in the family.
Génesis 4:3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. 4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
The Bible said pride is expressed by a high look. I have seen proud people give that high look. I know exactly what the Bible means, but never can adequately express it in words other than ugly. A high look is just a high look. It shows a person’s pride. When anyone sees that look on someone they know that that they are prideful. God knows too.
Proverbs 21:4 An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.
Cain plowed. He was a great farmer. He was good and he knew it. He was the best, Most farmers now just work humbly. Plowing every day. Getting it done. (As a missionary, that’s how I feel I am called to get out the Gospel, nothing fancy, nothing emotional or thrilling, just plowing along every day, with the same people. No fancy stamps in my passport. No great stories. Just plowing, 24/7/365. Not all plowing is sin, just the plowing of the sinful non believers is sin).
Cain proudly brought the offering of his hard work to God. He was sure God was going to be pleased with his hard work as undoubtedly his parents were. With his talent and hard work he was going to get on the good side of God. But God was not impressed. Hard work, popularity and talent won’t get you into the kingdom of God.
We know the rest of the story. Cain’s countenance fell. That Bible talks of mental illness for the first time, depression. (The opposite of pride). God, being the great physician, gave Cain the prescription. He said ‘stop sinning Cain, get it together’. He didn’t say ‘take Prozac’. Pride causes mental illness (Deuteronomy 28). Did you know that now, it is proven by science, that guilt and shame causes the chemical imbalance that creates mental illness. The sinful actions create the chemical balance. Mental illness is created by guilt, shame, trauma and actions (of themselves or others) which triggers mental illness, which triggers the chemical imbalance.
Here is God’s loving care. His psychiatric medicine, his prescription for the mental illness of Cain.
Génesis 4; 6 And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
Génesis 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Did Cain take God’s? Seems to me that if you want to get on someone’s good side, you take their advice. But Noooooooo! Instead, Cain ruined Able’s life and his own.
8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
Pride kills. Pride ruins. Pride causes mental illness.
Paul said, don’t be proud of yourself, think sanely.
Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Take away-
-Be honest with yourself
-Be honest with others
-Like Judas, ask Jesus ‘is it me?’
-Be ready to do anything to nip it in the bud
-Put yourself in the shoes of others
-Watch your self talk and your thoughts
-Pride always walks hand in hand with anger
Pride is the ground in which all other sins grow and the parent from which all other sins come.
William Barclay
Again, Fruit of the Spirit doesn’t just come. You have to work on it
Btw, Here is a video of me, plowing along, teaching through the Bible. I am open to people helping me with my Spanish
Love You
Dean AndWinnie