06/08/2026
Following on from Phil's message on pride last Sunday, you may be interested to read our latest article for the Hambledonian which, although written over a month ago, was on the same topic.
๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐จ๐ง ๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐ฅ ๐
๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ
๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ข๐๐จ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ง๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ก
A few weeks ago, I was coming towards the end of a hike around the Downs on a Saturday morning and feeling quite pleased with myself, having completed over 8 miles to add to the 15 or so miles I had walked on the previous Monday. As we walked along the gravelly track of the South Downs Way toward Buriton car park, we passed scores of runners coming in the opposite direction. Thinking that perhaps they had started in the QEP, we asked them where they had come from and where they were going. They told us that they had started in Wi******er and had done 25 miles already, finishing in Eastbourne, a total of 100 miles!
This put my rather meagre accomplishment into perspective, and I was reminded of that old saying, โPride comes before a fallโ which comes from the book of Proverbs where it is rendered in the NIV as โPride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.โ (Proverbs 16: 18). Earlier in the same book, we read, โWhen pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.โ (Proverbs 11: 2) Indeed, in the Roman Catholic tradition, pride is counted as one of the seven Deadly Sins where it is defined as an overbearing love of oneโs own brilliance.
๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐จ๐๐ฎ ๐๐๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐ง๐๐๐
Actually, the Bible has quite a lot to say about pride and its consequences. In the Old Testament we find that when Israelโs kings became used to unbridled power, then they became prideful in the eyes of God and He brought them down. We can see the same effects of unlimited power and the associated pride in autocratic leaders around our world today through the dreadful impacts that they can have on the inhabitants of their own and other nations.
Jesus speaks about pride as well. In a well-known parable he tells of a man who has done very well for himself and has built up a great store of wealth in the form of agricultural produce. In the pride at his accomplishments, he ponders what do next and decides that he will build great barns in which to store his wealth and then stop working and take life easy. Jesus tells us that as the man planned for a life of ease, his own life would be forfeited that very night bringing his selfish plans to nought. (Luke 12: 16 โ 21)
Again, Jesus teaches about pride when he speaks of the Pharisee who goes up to the temple to pray, loudly boasting and giving thanks that he is unlike other men who are, robbers, evil doers or even unlike the tax collector who was in the temple with him, who beat his breast and prayed simply, โGod have mercy on me, a sinner.โ (Luke 18: 10 โ 14)
So, does this mean that we should never be proud of our accomplishments? Indeed, is there a difference between being proud and pride? The problem with pride is that it puts ourselves at the centre of own little moral universe. We come to believe that all that we have achieved is a result of our own strivings and skill. It pushes God either entirely out of our lives or limits His place to the margins. Paul, that wonderful evangelist, had far more to be proud about that almost any other man, yet he says, โMay I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.โ (Galatians 6: 14)
Paul is telling us that we can be proud of those things that God accomplishes through us and we should not boast about those accomplishments that we achieve for our own purposes and in our own power. Paul also teaches us that one day we will all be held to account for what we have done with our lives. What we may consider to be worthy of praise, what perhaps we are most proud of, may be counted as worthless in Godโs eyes and burnt up in the assayerโs fire like straw. Other things that we have done and which were in His service, and which perhaps we may have thought of as of little value may be judged as being worthy of eternal reward. (1 Corinthians 3: 12 โ 14) Jesus tells us that, at the day of judgement, the sheep will be separated from the goats through what they did for Him in their lifetimes, through acts of mercy and kindness towards Him, manifested through those things that we do for others less fortunate than ourselves. (Matthew 25: 31 - 43)
Modesty, humility and charity to others are all the antitheses of pride, and it sometimes seems that those who follow such precepts put themselves at odds with much of what the secular world holds up, represented by that phrase, โBecause Iโm worth itโ. At various times in our lives, we are all tempted to be filled with pride at what we believe we have accomplished in our own power, perhaps in academic achievement or through success in our careers. But as we come to that time in life when we look back over our own lives and the lives of others, perhaps the things that now give us a feeling of pride are those done on behalf of others and not for our own gratification or gain.
