During the Middle Ages, a group of monks decided to love God with all their hearts, minds, and souls, as Jesus commanded in the Greatest Commandment (Mat 22:36-37). They wanted to know not only what drew them to God, but also what drew them away. They compiled a list of basic sins from which all other sins originate. These came to be known as “The Seven Deadly Sins.”

The worst and most dangerous sin of all is the first on their list. The Book of Proverbs says, “These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him:A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren” (6:16-19).

The ‘mother’ of all sins is a “proud look.” God hates this sin above all others because it describes people who are so full of pride it shows in their eyes. This article examines the Description of pride, the Dangers of pride, and the Destruction of pride.

The DESCRIPTION of Pride
Pride is the one sin that is constantly pre-occupied with the thought “What impression am I making on others?” Pride has us hungering for admiration and praise from others. Encouragement and affirmation are good, but praise is not because praise belongs only to God, the Creator, Author, Sustainer, and Satisfaction of Life!

Pride is the root of anger, bitterness, envy, lust, jealousy, a critical spirit, fear, lying, loneliness, self-pity, self-loathing, poor self-image. Pride is the worst of all sins because it is the ‘original’ sin. Pride is not self-esteem. We need self-esteem and should have enough of it. Pride is arrogance or having an inflated opinion of oneself.

The origin of pride – “Prideful” is the one word that best describes Satan. The Book of Isaiah says of Satan, “For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north;I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High” (14:13-14).

It was pride that led Satan to rebel against God. What was the outcome? The Book of Luke records, “And He [Jesus] said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven’”(10:18). How fast did God act to defeat Satan? Lightning fast!

Satan led Adam and Eve into sin by appealing to their pride, the same pride that caused him to rebel against God. God told Adam and Eve that if they ate the forbidden fruit they would surely die, but Satan said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, you shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’” (Gen. 3:1-5).

The DANGERS of Pride
Pride is the ‘root’ of life’s problems… harming us in at least four ways:

1. Spiritually – “Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; Though they join forces, none will go unpunished” (Prov. 16:5).

Pride keeps us from being ‘one’ with God! Have you noticed the middle letter in the words pride and sin? When we have an “I” problem it places us on a direct collision course with God. Another word for pride is ego, which someone has said stands for “Edging God Out.” Pride tells us that we are good people and that there is no need for us to be on our knees confessing that without God we are in jeopardy.

 2. Relationally – Pride is the basic cause of conflict in relationships… “By pride comes nothing but strife, but with the well-advised is wisdom” (Prov. 13:10). In light of this verse, every husband and wife should memorise it and act wisely.

When overtaken with pride; we clash with family, friends, and associates. Pride makes us demanding and uncompromising. Pride causes parents to blindly damage their relationships with their children. Many parents make their children miserable by pressuring them to be ‘winners,’ either academically or in sports. Why do parents do that? They think their children’s achievements make them look good. That is pure pride! Also, when we are prideful, we become obnoxious and rude.

  3. Emotionally – Pride causes us to always try to look successful to impress others. Pride makes us want to keep up with the Joneses. Therefore, pride keeps us stressed-out and miserable. Pride blinds us to the fact Jesus declares in the Book of Luke, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses’” (12:15).

Friends, your worth does not consist in the things you own or how much money you have in the bank, or how good looking you are, or the clothing you wear. Your true value consists in knowing Jesus and that He considered you were worth dying for.

 4. Financially – Personal debt is one of the greatest problems in the world and is one of the contributing factors in divorce. The average person is far more interested in looking successful than being successful. Pride says I need a bigger house, I need a bigger and better car, I need more investments so my future will be secure.  

Friends, the essence of pride is the desire to be your own god… making your own rules and living how you want by your own standards and morals–in your heart, proclaiming, “It is ‘I’ who rules in my life!” I say, “Dumb, Dumb… Deadly Dumb!”

(Concluding Part II of “The Worst of All Sins” will come to you next week.)

Bill