In this brief account of Uzziah’s downfall from pride we see three ways in which pride manifests itself.
The first way is in Uzziah’s overestimation of his own value. He felt that the offering of incense should be a privilege to which he was entitled. Surely God would be more honoured by the offering of a king as great as he was, rather than that of incense offered by a mere priest.
Read More being defensive, intimidation, prideKing Hezekiah falls seriously ill, so Isaiah encourages him to get his affairs in order. Filled with grief, the prophet turns toward the wall (perhaps the nearby temple) and pleads with God to save his ailing friend. The Lord answers Isaiah’s prayer and promises to give Hezekiah another fifteen years of life. The king is jubilant.
Read More pride, consequences, sin
Read Reflect Answered prayers, healing, health, wealth and fame. God made Hezekiah extremely rich (v 29a) and a resounding success – “In fact, everything he did was successful!” (v 30b) Hezekiah ‘had it all,’ it seems. So everyone thought; but God doesn’t stop there. For God, ‘the matter of the heart is the heart of […]
Read More success, repentance, pride
Read Reflect The Christian faith is not a philosophy. You don’t have to be clever to understand it. So Paul warned the Corinthians, don’t brag, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth. […]
Read More pride, self-worth, being a Christian
These words were written a long time ago at a time when the author’s environment was markedly different from ours. In spite of all these differences and all the changes that have occurred over the past centuries, what Agur describes here clearly shows that the heart of man has not really changed at all.
Read More pride, rébellion, righteousness, haughtiness, weakness, hypocrisy, greed, respect, oppression, exploitation, deprivedRead Reflect The Corinthians had written to ask Paul about “spiritual gifts” (v 1). Whenever we talk about people’s “gifts,” we run into two dangers. One is that by comparing ourselves with others we may think that they are much more gifted than we are – so we become discouraged. The other is just the […]
Read More pride, spiritual gifts, sense of inferiorityRead Reflect All too often we want people to know our accomplishments in order to gain acceptance into certain circles, satisfying our ego and solidifying our social status. It’s a pride-filled exercise that, while possibly putting us in places we wish to be, we should be wary of. Jesus warns that everyone who exalts himself […]
Read More humility, pride, recognitionHave you ever been in a situation where the Lord has done something significant in you, through you or revealed something to you? What did you do? Did you keep it to yourself or did you tell others about it? My first reaction is to tell others what happened. I often lack wisdom at times like this.
Read More grace, pride, God’s strength
