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 Overcoming P R I D E
Don't let the smile fool you, alligators are dangerous, pride is also.

P = position
R = rank
I =  the center
D = destruction
E = embarrassment

1. Pride says, "I know everything" when it knows nothing.
"He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings"  (I Timothy 6:4).
2. Pride says, "I don't need the grace of God."
"But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble"  (James 4:6).
3. Pride says, "I have everything and have need of nothing."
"Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked"  (Revelation 3:17).
4. Pride says, "You must give me respect."
"And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath"  (Esther 3:5).
5. Pride says, "I am better than everyone else."
"The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican"  (Luke 18:11).
6. Pride says, "Look at all that I have accomplished."
"The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?"  (Daniel 4:30).
7. Pride says, "I am above the law of God."
"But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense"  (II Chronicles 26:16).  (Uzziah)
8. Pride says, "You don't expect me to get my hands dirty, do you?"
"But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper"  (II Kings 5:11).
9. Pride says, "Who is God that I should have to obey Him?"
"And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go"  (Exodus 5:2).
10. Pride says, "I never do anything wrong."
"I am clean without transgression, I am innocent; neither is there iniquity in me"  (Job 33:9).
11. Pride says, "I follow Dr. So and So's teachings."
"Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses' disciples"  (John 9:28).
12. Pride says, "God has never disciplined me for anything that I have done wrong."
"They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?"  (John 8:33).
13. Pride says, "I will assume the position that I deserve."
"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High"  (Isaiah 14:12-14).
14. Pride says, "Look at me, how great I am."
"Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.  Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee"  (Ezekiel 28:17-18).
15. Pride says, "I will take anyone on."
"He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat"  (Proverbs 28:25).
16. Pride says, "Since I am better the poor, I will take what the poor has."
"The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined"  (Psalms 10:2).
17. Pride says, "It's O.K. to worship me."
"And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.  And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost"  (Acts 12:22-23).
How does God deal with prideful?

1. God brings down the prideful.

"For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks"  (Psalms 18:27),  "For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low"  (Isaiah 2:12),  "He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree"  (Luke 1:52).
2. God makes them low.
"A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit"  (Proverbs 29:23).
3. God brings them to experience destruction and shame.
"When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom"  (Proverbs 11:2).
4. God resists them.
"Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble"  (I Peter 5:5).
5. God abases them.
"And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted"  (Matthew 23:12).
6. God allows them to fall into their own traps.
"The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined"  (Psalms 10:2).
How should we deal with pride? (How do we overcome pride?).   "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" (II Chronicles 7:14).  PRAYER is where we start ...

1. We are to repent by turning to the opposite direction.

"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent"  (Revelation 3:19).
2. We are to humble ourselves by submitting to authority.
"Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time"  (I Peter 5:5-6).
3. We are to meditate on the word of God.
"Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts"  (Psalms 119:78).
4. We are to put our trust in God rather than idolizing men.
"Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies"  (Psalms 40:4).
5. We are to learn to serve others.
"Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.  If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.  For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.  Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him"  (John 13:13-16).
6. We are to learn to sit in a lowly seat.
"But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee"  (Luke 14:10).
7. We are to learn the benefits of humility.
"Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up"  (James 4:10),  "Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble"  (I Peter 5:5).

Also see: "Orbit Around Self" and "Warfare On Three Fronts" in overcoming pride.