Dear child, you have been taught that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Whoever wants to be wise must first start by learning what it means to fear God, and deliberately walk in that fear, putting God first before every decision.
Today I’d like to show you more things about the fear of God. Let’s take a look at our focus verse for today!
To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. –Proverbs 8:13 (NIV)
This verse listed some things God wants us his children to take note of. The fear of God means to; hate evil, to hate pride and arrogance, to hate evil behaviours, and to hate perverse speech. Let’s pick these things one after the other, shall we?
1. The fear of God is to Hate Evil.
The word evil means being wicked, and harming people. The God we serve is a good God, his thought for everyone is to do us good. You can’t be a child of God and think of harming the people around you. The proof that you are a Christian is that you love your neighbour, and everyone around you just like Jesus commanded.
2. The fear of God is to Hate Pride and Arrogance.
Pride and Arrogance are similar words; it is the quality of having an excessively high opinion of oneself, having an exaggerated sense of one’s own importance or abilities. Humility and kindness are very important virtues for us as God’s children, you might be smarter or prettier than the people around you, but that doesn’t mean you are better than they are. Jesus lived a humble life on earth, that’s what every child of God should do too.
To be continued…
PRAYER: Father in the name of Jesus, I pray that I have the fear of God in Jesus name. Amen
ACTION PLAN: Decide to put in your best in all you do today
DECLARATION: I have the fear of God, I hate evil all the days of my life.
Hello dear one, how are you today? I want to talk to you about pride as a character and what God thinks about it. You will learn how to detect pride.
What is Pride? Pride is a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from achievements, qualities, of possessions that do one credit, being consciousness of one’s own dignity; it’s the quality of having an excessively high opinion of oneself. It simply is feeling like you are better than everyone else and treating them less.
Now let’s look at what God’s word says.
In a few places in the bible, God expresses his displeasure in prideful people; it is not one of the attributes of God’s children.
Take a look at what the bible says about Pride and why we as God’s children should not get involved in it.
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” – James 4:6 (NKJV)
God resists prideful people; he doesn’t want them around him. He isn’t pleased with people who exhibit this character. But everyone who is humble, God gives grace.
Don’t you want the grace of God? If you do, then being proud isn’t an option for you.
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. – Proverbs 8:13 (KJV)
Being prideful is regarded as an evil thing. It’s an attribute of someone who doesn’t fear God. As a child of God you ought to fear God and so you can’t afford to have pride.
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. – Proverbs 11:2 (NIV)
Disgrace comes with having pride; it’s not God’s desire for his children to be disgraced. Pride is never the will of God for us as his children.
This One Thing Will Always Birth Crises In Marriage
I have counseledhundreds of couples in the last twenty-two years. Marriage has always been and will always work. There are things you do and it is guaranteed that the marriage will work. There are things you ignore and it is sure that crises will emanate.
There is one sure thing if undone, will always birth crisis every time. This has to do with accountability.
Ever met anyone who does not want to be accountable and doesn’t want to talk to mentors? At the root of this is Pride! This is accentuated in the scriptures.
Let’s take a look at the scriptures
Wisdom opens your heart to receive wise counsel, but pride closes your ears to advice and gives birth to only quarrels and strife.
Pro 13:10 (TPT)
How do you know a wise couple? They are open to wise counsel. You see, there are issues that will come up in marriage that will be beyond you. God forbid that you have nobody to talk to!
Many a couple’s heart are closed to counsel and this is not good because they are only operating by what they know and the reality is that what they know is limited. Limited by their age and experiences.
It is wisdom then, to open yourselves to counsel because God will surround you with at least one person who has wisdom to help in whatever imbroglio you might have found yourselves.
That scripture says pride closes the ears to advice and shockingly, pride also gives birth to quarrels and strife.
Is your marriage riddled with strife and quarrels? Then find out if you have not made statements like “You must not discuss me with a third party!”
Yes, you must not discuss your issues all over the place, but you should have at least one person who serves as mentor or pastor you should talk to. And this person shouldn’t be either of your parents in any way. They will always be biased.
Have a great day!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY My marriage will work.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, give me the needed wisdom to build my marriage
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Prov 13:10 (AMP) Through pride and presumption come nothing but strife, But [skillful and godly] wisdom is with those who welcome [well-advised] counsel
There is something that can promptly assassinate a promising relationship and marriage in a moment. What can that be?
It is called pride!
The reason why pride is such a dangerous sin can be found in some of these verses.
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. (James 4:6 KJV)
Obviously, this won’t be a good place to be. When the Bible says God resisteth the proud, what that means is that God Himself will oppose or hinder a proud man.
Again you find the same thing here.
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. (1 Peter 5:5 KJV)
In the Old Testament, Nebuchadnezzar became proud, and he was humbled, he became an animal.
In the New Testament, Herod made a prideful statement, he was eaten from inside out.
Pride is not a good commodity that should be found with you.
Do you want God to help you in life? Be humble!
It is such a thin line between humility and pride. If you are a humble person, and you know it, then you are no longer humble!
Humble people don’t say it or flaunt it, others identify it in them and talk about it.
The day you talk or boast about your humility, you already lost it, because you are now proud of your humility!
The greatest problem a proud person has is that he never owns up that he is proud. His pride will not allow him to own up that he is really proud, and even when he sometimes discovers, he is still proud of his pride!
A lot of people have lost opportunities of a godly relationship because of pride!
The picture of the person they wanted to get married to, is far from those that are showing up, so they keep on rebuffing opportunities that come their way. The problem is that after a long time, they always end up with just anybody because they suddenly wake up to the reality that age is no longer on their side.
‘My husband has to be handsome like my pastor!’ Ask your pastor’s wife to show you her husband’s picture before they got married. You will almost want to tell her that she took a risk!
I have always told people, the most important factor in deciding who to get married to is God’s direction. Physical attraction is very important as well, but that is not all to it. People change over time!
In fact, some people get handsome the older they get! While it is different for some, the older they get, the more they lose their rhyme and the magic!
You want to marry a Joseph? Would you have said yes to him while he was a slave in strange land, his destiny unsure and his dreams almost bothering on a psychological absurdity?
Would you have married him when he was in the prison, sentenced to an indefinite prison life, together in the king’s maximum prison with hardened criminals convicted of murder?
My point is that what people are now, is not what they were before!
I always tell men of God, they need to come together and do a thanksgiving service to God on behalf of their wives for saying “yes’ to them!
The woman in the scripture says, I perceive this is a man of God!’
God sees ahead and sees what you cannot see. In His wisdom and love, He seeks to lead and direct us, if we are willing to obey and stay humble, we will enter into our wealthy place and we will be fulfilled not only in marriage but in life as well.
Ask yourself, am I really proud and hindering God’s plan unknowingly?
How do you know if you are proud? Here are a few tips:
1. You have an exaggerated opinion of yourself. 2. You have an opinion of everything and anything. 3. You are critical of almost everything and anything. 4. You have a problem with accountability. You are accountable to no one. 5. You see yourself as superior to your friends. 6. You are not submissive to any authority figures, including your pastors and parents. 7. You sometimes think you don’t need God, it is God that needs you!
Ask God to help you. Ask Him to open your eyes and show you all you need to know about yourself.
Be humble enough to do that so that you will not delay yourself!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I will not be proud
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, take pride away from my heart
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Pro 16:5 (KJV) Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Are there traces of pride in your relationship? Address it.
