The Root of All Evil: PRIDE
“Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)
C.S. Lewis and I agree: pride is at the center of all evil! Here’s what Lewis said in “Mere Christianity” (page 109) about this subject, which I wholeheartedly agree:
The essential vice, the utmost evil, is pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through pride that the devil became the devil. Pride leads to every other vice. It is the complete anti-God state of mind.
My personal persuasion is that the root of all evil starts with pride/self-will (could be conscious or unconscious). It certainly was Adam and Eve’s main issue at the Fall of mankind. Otherwise, why would they jeopardize their perfect experience and fellowship with God and be tempted to disobey? The sin of pride that led to Satan’s fall also infected the hearts and minds of Adam and Eve. Satan desired to be like God (Isa 14:12-15; Ezek 28:12-15). Adam and Eve caved to the same exact sinful desire, a pride-filled temptation coming directly from the serpent, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Gen 3:5). The serpent, of course is the devil, also known as Satan (Rev 12:9). The devil succeeded in persuading Adam and Eve to trust his words, and in effect to doubt and disobey God’s words. Pride was clearly at the center of this colossal fall.
Now, the three root causes of sin were all involved at the Fall in the garden of Eden (see Gen 3:6): the lust of the flesh (the tree was good for food), the lust of the eyes (the fruit was a delight to the eyes), and the boastful pride of life (the tree was desirable to make one wise) – all mentioned in 1 John 2:15-17. But it all started with pride. Why do I say that? Well, Galatians 5:16 says, “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” Adam and Eve were walking in perfect fellowship with God. If we do succumb to sin, the first mistake is stepping out of the Spirit. You see, staying in line with the Holy Spirit keeps us obedient. But when a true child of God’s sinful desire meets up with the Spirit and sin is being birthed, a person virtually says, “I have been enabled by You God NOT to sin, but I choose to disregard Your power and do what I want. I do not care what You want me to do Lord!” That is the essence of pride…choosing our own direction over God’s. Once that initial direction is taken, let the lust(s) begin and the sin mountain start growing. This is how it all started with Adam and Eve. And what a mountain of sin that has been erected since then! Repentance is the only cure for this (sin), made effective by and through Yeshua Hamaschiah (Jesus Christ).
[But just a warning here, and this is based on my personal experience…be very, very careful when you claim someone else is being prideful. Why? The act of making this assessment could easily be perceived as a prideful act by the one who is being appraised. And that could actually be true if a person is not extremely careful when judging another. Then we have a Matthew 7:1-5 situation; a hypocritical judgment. Make sure you are truly making a righteous judgment when claiming someone else is being prideful. Otherwise you yourself will be guilty of the sin of pride. “For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself” (Gal 6:3).]
My personal suggestion: repent of pride every time you interact with God and are confessing your sins to the Lord. Here’s why – unrepentant sin breaks our fellowship with God (see 1 John 1:6-10). In other words, our relationship with Him is on the line due to any unconfessed pride. There is nothing more important that could be at stake then our relationship with the Lord. Our righteous obedience will be lost when our fellowship with God is broken. “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us…If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His Word is not in us” (v8,10). Honestly, if a person says, “I have no sin,” they are almost certainly guilty of pride. We all have personal sin to deal with, as per the Word! Think not just of the sins of commission, but also the sins of omission. “Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (Jas 4:17). How many of those failures do we have a day (i.e. not taking the time to witness to someone, not extending a kind act to someone less fortunate, not loving/respecting our spouse, etc.)? And when we admit we’ve sinned and repent to the Lord, repenting of pride every time we confess is a valid and important thing to do, especially if it is true that the underlying cause of all sin is pride.
“GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE” (Jas 4:6; 1 Pet 5:5). You never want God opposed to you, under any circumstance…do you??? We all need God’s grace. And the benefits of God’s grace are not realized until you repent. Humble yourself and repent of pride as often as humanly possible – before you have to yell, “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!” What a shame it is when this occurs, all due to unconfessed pride.
Just a few more proverbs about pride…
The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. (Prov 8:13)
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom. (Prov 11:2)
Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished. (Prov 16:5)
It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud. (Prov 16:19)
Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor. (Prov 18:12)
Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin. (Prov 21:4)
“Scoffer” is the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride. (Prov 21:24)
One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor. (Prov 29:23)