What does the Bible teach about pride?
The Bible says that God regards human pride as something abominable. Pride or arrogance is considered the root of sin and all evil. It tempts man to rise above his Creator and other people, while at the same time defying God's commandments and ordinances that apply to everyone.
The Tower of Babel reported in Scripture is an expression of man's rebellion against God. This spirit of rebellion, which in turn springs from human pride, has shaped hu-man history to this day and is the main cause of suffering and injustice in our world. It is no coincidence that certain movements today use the word "pride" as a guiding concept for their socio-political agenda. Even if "freedom and self-determi-nation" are officially propagated, in reali-ty it is nothing more than another act of rebellion against God and the truth, ca-mouflaged under the hypocritical cloak of goodness....
Pride or arrogance has many facets: This includes, among other things, the human tendency to always want to be faster, bet-ter, bigger and stronger than others. This has nothing to do with evolutionarily based or vital instincts, but is simply a sign of pride and human vanity, which in turn results from man's separation from his cre-ator. There are many things that make peo-ple overestimate themselves or feel supe-rior to others; be it their knowledge, their appearance, their race, their talents, their success or their material wealth. All of these things often only serve to validate yourself or gain approval from other peo-ple; something that God deeply detests. Be-fore God, however, neither knowledge nor skills nor a person's possessions count.
God's Word makes it clear that God opposes proud people and that proud people can-not impress or please God. Because pride blinds people to God and focuses our at-tention on ourselves instead of our Crea-tor. In addition, the Bible expressly warns that pride brings people down. For many rulers, kings and even entire nations throughout history, their pride was their downfall.
While God expressly abhors pride, those of humble heart are pleasing to Him. Humility means recognizing that God is above us hu-mans and that we owe our existence and everything good in life to God alone. At the same time, this means that there is no-thing for which we humans can be proud of ourselves, but that it is God alone who deserves all credit.
Humility is the opposite of pride. Humble people do not seek glory for themselves, but instead give honor and credit to God their Creator in all things. A humble per-son puts the will of God and the good of those around him in higher esteem than himself. A willingness to submit to God and His Word brings blessings from God and peace to all people.
As in everything, Jesus Christ serves as our example here. Jesus explains that God hum-bles those who honor themselves while exalting those who give glory to God in what they do. This means that God honors them before other people.
James 3,13-18