 ™ |
earns nothing!
are given to us in Holy Scripture as examples of pride:
Babylonian Emperor Nebuchadnezzar, and King Herod Agrippa I (of Judea, Samaria, Galilee, and southern Syria).
the first, Nebuchadnezzar's pride arose from his great building accomplishments, and His loss of mind for seven years, in which his life experience is humbled to that of an animal, turns his attitude around, and he is then presented in the Daniel's writing (chapter four) as having become a believer, for attitude is more important than intellect.
the second, Herod's pride arose from the personal flattery of those seeking a commercial trade advantage, and so swollen with pride at being considered a 'god' he is struck incurably and dies, a king who had so excelled his own father and ruled a territory no less than his grandfather Herod the Great.
of these situations are presented in the Bible as involving the intervention of God and are recorded as lessons to us. Why?
Because, more than any other factor, pride directly affects our relationship to those around us,
and God cares about those around us!
and God cares about those around us!
is to prefer the welfare of the other above our own, and this, the Bible repeatedly teaches, is the character of God Himself, the creator of all that exists.
Pride reverses this, and is therefore incompatible with the existential fabric of existence. Humility in itself does not earn any moral merit. It is the effect upon our relationships that is the issue.
God hates pride because God loves!
Our very existence proceeds toward direct encounter with the source of all existence – God Himself:
not toward a Heavenly 'retirement home', but to the infinite Person from Whom all existence derives.
Therefore our time on His planet, or any other, is measured by our attitude to those around us, with regard to the welfare of those around us, and nothing less!
Less than this is to be out-of-gear with our origin and and to put our destiny in jeopardy.
We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers.
Whoever does not love abides in death. ...
By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers."
