In this sermon from Proverbs 3:7-7, Jon English Lee explains that pride will bring dishonor and punishment, and that that a prideful person brings strife. However, a humble person is a peacemaker, will receive honor, and will have life. Here are a few quotes from the sermon:
Sometimes this pride-driven fall comes quickly, and brings to onlookers a sense of justice and satisfaction, like the man that gets annoyed with traffic, pulls onto the shoulder and zooms ahead, only to pass a policeman who then pulls him over. We like that kind of immediate justice, as long as it happens to others.
But other times, indeed most of the time, this pride-driven fall comes slowly. Like the man that gains a little power over time, starts to think and act like he is invincible, and only after decades does he come tumbling down. Israel’s king Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26 is an example of this. He reigned for 52 years and was a great king, at the start. But over time he began to rely on his own strength and wisdom. The text says that “He acted cor¬ruptly, and he was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.” He disobeyed God, relied on his own wisdom, was prideful in his estimation of himself, and was in turn stricken with leprosy, and therefore banished from the temple, and had to live by himself for the rest of his life. Just because you start well, doesn’t mean you will end well. Pride is a danger to both the young and the old, and we must remember that God will punish pride, and that the prideful will fall, either in this life or the next.
Or how a prideful person stirs up strife:
A prideful person has himself at the center of the universe, and everyone around him can usually tell. Pride is like bad breath, everyone around you can smell it but the person who has it is oblivious. And when you’re blind to your own pride, you’ll do things that stir up trouble. You’ll speak unkindly to people, you’ll lack compassion, you’ll demand from others what you wouldn’t do yourself. You’ll be like the Pharisees, whom Jesus condemned for tying up burdens on people that they themselves would never lift a finger to carry.
Likewise, prideful people want special treatment. They say things like: “I know the rules that that I can’t do that, but I was hoping that you’d let me do that this time. I know everyone is supposed to do this, but I’d really like to do that.” What they are saying that they think they are exceptional, and deserve to be treated better than everyone else. That’s pride. They want preferential treatment, extraordinary favor, for no reason other than they just consider themselves special.
Or here is another pride marker that always stirs up strife: prideful people are wise in their own eyes, and so that means they are never wrong. They have all the right answers for everyone’s problems, and the whole world, the government, the President, the mayor, and the pastor would have all their problems go away if they would just listen to me. Have you met someone like this? I know I have. And when they are confronted with their own inadequacy, they won’t own up to it. The problems are never their fault. They will excuse it. Or they will blame someone else. “Well it’s not my fault, they didn’t tell me all the information. If I had had all the data, then I would have given the right answer. I was misled, that’s all.” Or “They didn’t do it exactly like I said. If they had just listened more closely, then my plan would have worked. It’s completely their fault, not mine.”
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