1. Pride actually brings a man down.

2. The point here is that pride seems to accomplish the opposite of what it is… of what it intends.

3. Pride is self-exaltation.

a. Pride defined: Arrogance; pomp; swelling; haughtiness; conceit; highness; rising up.

b. It is used to describe the fact that God is high and lifted up. When used of God this term is sometimes translated “majesty” or “excellency.” (“Ascribe ye strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds.” Ps. 68:34)

c. It is perfectly appropriate to speak of God’s majesty and excellency, for He alone is worthy.

d. It is certainly not appropriate to view SELF in that same light. We are not worthy.

4. And whether or not we want to admit it, we are all afflicted with pride.

a. We might manifest it in different ways.
• Some folks think they are smarter than everyone else.
• Others think they are better looking than anyone else.
• Some think they are cooler and hipper than anyone else.
• Some think they are more successful than anyone else.
• Some pride themselves in the fact that they are richer than others.
• Some exalt themselves thinking they are more famous than anyone else.
• Some think they are more popular than anyone else.
• Some even foolishly pride themselves in being more humble than anyone else.
• And worst of all by far, some people think they are more spiritual than anyone else.

b. Pride comes in all sizes and shapes.
• Some folks wear expensive clothing and jewelry and drive a fancy car in order that men might LOOK at them and think highly of them… (that’s pride).
• Other folks might purposely wear old beat up clothes and drive an old beat up car in order to LOOK humble… so that people will think of them as humble… (that’s pride too).
• They are both forms of pride… one overt and one covert. They both want men to think HIGHLY of them.
• Kings who live in palaces pride themselves that their palace is bigger and better than the king next door.
• Peasants who live in grass huts pride themselves in the fact that their grass hut is bigger and better than their neighbor.
• Pride affects us all – from all walks of life – in every country – in every age. It is human nature.

c. And just because we don’t manifest every form of pride, that doesn’t mean that we are not a proud person.

d. It is a sin that has infected and affected every one of us.

e. We all look down on somebody or some group of people and consider ourselves to be better than them… a notch or two above.

5. Proud men, women, and children like to EXALT themselves in their own eyes, and in the eyes of others.

a. Pride causes us to be SHOWY about something we have that others don’t have.

b. Pride causes us to be SHOWY about something we can do that others can’t do.

c. Pride causes us to want to BOAST about self… who we are… who we know… where we’ve been… what we’ve done… how many people we have led to Christ… how much we give… how dedicated we are to serving God… how good we are at something… we can even boast about how much we love God… how spiritual we are.

d. It is an insidious sin. It seems to manifest itself in our words and actions before we even realize what we are doing!

e. It’s the kind of sin we have to keep on confessing over and over… because it keeps on popping up.

f. And it keeps on popping up because deep down inside we LOVE to exalt self. Nothing is more pleasing to the fleshly heart and ear than to hear applause and praise for SELF.

g. We LOVE to think of self as superior in something (baseball; singing; art; sales; looks; teaching; parenting; politics; etc.)… and we love even more to be recognized by others as being superior.

6. But our proverb teaches us that pride is dangerous.

a. It is dangerous because as much as we love to exalt self and boast of self, there is something about the nature of pride itself that has the tendency to do the opposite of exalting self.

b. Some passages imply that GOD puts down the proud.
• Jas. 4:6 – “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” (I Pet. 1:5-6 says the same thing.)
• Prov. 16:18 – “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” (judgment)
• Prov. 18:12 – “Before destruction the heart of man is haughty…” (judgment)

c. Our present proverb seems to imply that it is pride itself that brings a man low.

d. For example, if an employer has two equally qualified candidates in line for a big promotion to vice president, who will he pick, the proud, arrogant man or the humble one?
• People don’t like proud people.
• Even though we are all afflicted with it to one degree or another, we don’t like it when we see it in someone else.
• Pride does not help build friendships and good relationships with others. It ruins relationships.
• The business owner is aware of that and with two equally qualified candidates, one man’s pride will probably tilt the decision the other way.
• His pride brought him low.
• If you are trying to get a promotion, don’t be proud.

e. If you are trying to make friends, don’t be proud.
• Don’t be a “know it all;” don’t pretend that you are “Mr. Cool Guy”.
• Don’t sing that old song, “Anything you can do I can do better!”
• People don’t like pride in others. Pride is certainly not the way to make friends and influence people.
• It is the way to turn people off and to lose friends. Pride will bring you low!

f. Another danger of pride is the tendency to exaggerate one’s accomplishments…
• We might exaggerate in order puff self up… to exalt self… so that people will think highly of us.
• However, those exaggerations also have a tendency to be exposed. And when they are exposed as exaggerations or outright lies, it deflates us very quickly in the eyes of others – like a puffed up balloon that gets popped.
• Prov. 11:2 – Solomon put it this way: “When pride cometh, then cometh shame…”
• It is shameful to be exposed. The proud man is brought low (which can mean humbled or humiliated). This man is humiliated.
• It is difficult to rebuild trust once we have been exposed as being a “less than truthful” person.