Lori began attending a Bible study that I was leading at our church about ten years ago. She was already a member of Lakes Community Chapel, but it was through this study that Lori and I became friends. During that time, I began to sense that the Lord wanted me to find another lady to assist me in leading the Bible study and then to hand over at some point in the future. It didn’t make sense at the time, as the study was just taking off and growing, and I loved what I was doing. But during this same time, the Lord was burdening Lori toward serving in some capacity in women’s ministry. We met one day for lunch and Lori shared her heart and how God was working in her. And that is how it started.
“Oh, I’m So Proud of You!” by Lori Saiia
Often those words are uttered in what would seem an innocent compliment. But what does the Bible have to say about pride? One verse that often comes to mind is Proverbs 16:18 which says “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” What a humbling thought! Pride can cause many problems and often, we don’t even see our own heart before that fall comes.
There are several words in the Bible translated in both the Hebrew and the Greek as “pride.” Quite honestly, none of them expresses a very appealing meaning! For instance the words for pride may be translated as arrogance, excellency, majesty, pomp, haughtiness, highness, to soar and raise up on a mount. Psalm 73:6 describes those who wear pride as a necklace and violence as a garment. Not the most attractive fashion statement! No matter how it’s translated, in the Old Testament, pride always seems to carry a negative connotation, as a type of attitude against God. The New Testament talks about the proud as being filled with smoke and inflated with self-conceit (1 Tim 3:6). There too, we are warned against this destructive attitude.
Both the Hebrew and Greek words confer the idea of self-aggrandizement, in general to rise up and see oneself as majestic. Often the idea is of insolence, or arrogance, a self-exaltation. In other words, we see ourselves as something pretty amazing! When we are filled with pride, we’ve squeezed God out. There’s no room for Him – “I” and “me” takes up all the space! Job uses the word to describe the mighty beast Leviathan. “His scales are his pride, shut up together with a close seal.” (Job 41:15). Seems like a great way to image what pride does to us. We wear it like armor and it seals us up inside our own thoughts and images of how great we think we are.
Psalm 10:4 sums it up rather nicely, “In all his scheming, the wicked arrogantly thinks: “There is no accountability, since God does not exist.” That word, “arrogantly” is translated in the beauty of the King James as “the pride of his countenance.” I think we’ve all see that look on someone’s face …. And it’s never good!
We must then ask, “How does the Lord view such self-importance and outward boasting?” If we think about this attitude and demeanor, it is the antithesis of our beautifully humble Lord Jesus. When we look at pride as it relates to “self,” it becomes an issue of the heart. In Mark 7:22 Jesus tells us that what comes out of our mouths really gives away what is on the inside in our hearts. That is what defiles a person. As Proverbs 1:7 says “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” In view of that knowledge and understanding, pride becomes the polar opposite frame of mind. Fear of the Lord lifts our focus to God. We see His majesty, His Love and His Grace; pride keeps the focus on “Me!”
The Expositor’s Bible says “to remove the idea of God is to destroy the key of knowledge and to make any consistent scheme of thought impossible.” This is true folly! Apart from recognizing and acknowledging God, we cannot see the truth, and pride seems just the vehicle to keep us blind. But the fear of the Lord brings us outside of ourselves. It makes us look up to His majesty and His Grace, not our own self-imposed importance. Pride is always having to be right no matter what lies in shambles around you when you’re done. The “fear of the Lord” is wisdom and knowledge, and that is what leads us to exemplify Jesus.
Lori Saiia is married and has two young adult children. She lives in Tabernacle,NJ, and has been attending Lakes Community Chapel for many years. She feels strongly about the “Titus 2” mentoring of women-to-women and feels it is by the love, encouragement and discipleship of other mature Christian woman that she has been able to grow in the Lord. Lori delights in studying the Word of God and enjoys sharing that love of the Word through Ladies Bible Studies at Lakes Community Chapel in Medford, NJ.