“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” -Proverbs 16:18

Here is a somewhat famous verse from the Bible. The principle is important, and it makes perfect sense: if we lift ourselves up higher than we ought, we’ll be very likely to fall. And not only that, but since we’ve lifted ourselves up so high in our own estimation, we’re much more likely to suffer a devastating fall.

Cigar Box Pitcher and New York Herald
(William Michael Harnett, 1880)
Pride brings shattering consequences.

Imagine we have a vase or a pitcher, one that we’d prefer to keep intact. If we put it lower to the ground, the worse that could happen would be that it could get knocked over on its side. Yet it we put it up on a shelf, it is more and more likely to break. At the very top of a bookcase or another piece of furniture, the vase will almost certainly break if it falls.

This comparison to pride is true with height as well assize. It has been said, “the bigger they are, the harder they fall.” If we inflate ourselves bigger than what we ought to think of ourselves, we are at an increased risk to be shattered by a humbling event.

“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” -Romans 12:3

• The Prince of Life
• Falling Seven Times
• God’s Promises: As Sure as the Sun Rises
• It Abideth Alone
• Deadly Consequences of Stubbornness and Pride

Filed under:
Christian Devotions/Bible Study by Dean