Thoughts on the topic of pride from the book of wisdom
The book of Proverbs has much to say about the topic of pride. Let’s dive into the wisdom of Proverbs for a few moments.
Let’s read a verse and consider the message.
Proverbs 11:2
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.
What does a proud man fear? Might it be the loss of riches? Possibly. Might it be the loss of family? Surely we would hope so.
I would suggest that the greatest fear of a proud man is shame. Loss of stature in his community, reputation amongst his peers and disgrace in his life strikes a proud man in his most sensitive area of life. We see it often in our own lives that the proud will go to great lengths to avoid negative exposure, to avoid any thought of his reputation being tarnished, or of his self assessed worth being diminished or destroyed.
Is it not so in our own lives? We tend to hide those things that make us look bad, that minimize our worth in the sight of others, even looking for support from others as we slip occasionally in our reputation.
Shame and disgrace are the result of truth coming to light in each of our lives. Truth is inevitable, and so when we boast of our goodness, our skills, our abilities beyond the truth, we are setting ourselves up for shame.
As pride comes, so shame. So why, oh why are we so easily tempted to “stretch the truth”, to speak highly of ourselves, to seek advantage by highlighting only certain aspects of our lives?
If I understood the hard link between pride and shame, I might conclude that pride is my enemy. Though it feels so good to speak highly of myself, it will not deliver the promised goods we think it will.
Consider the humble in our verse today. It is a unique word in that it is only used twice in the Old Testament.
The other time you ask?
Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
The term speaks of modesty, a lowliness of life, a retiring spirit that does not force its self opinion upon others. I found a short quote from an old preacher that expresses the character of a humble man
“The humble man looks for nothing but justice; has the meanest opinion of himself; expects nothing in the way of commendation or praise; and can never be disappointed but in receiving praise, which he neither expects nor desires.” (Clarke)
To be humble is to accept the person you are in reality, to consider your self under God, and with that to also be under the circumstances out of your control.
Humility has a partner in life, for wisdom resides with the humble. As shame is connected with pride, and is the inevitable result of a proud life, so is the inseparable link between humility and wisdom.
Humility allows us to perceive our condition in reality, and allows us to accept those things that are difficult, if not impossible, for the proud to accept.
Humility provides wisdom. Pride provides shame.
Choose wisely!
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