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First Peter 5:5 states, “Likewise, you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble’” (NKJV). Here, Peter references Proverbs 3:34 to encourage Christians to embrace humility. The Bible praises humility as a virtue and condemns pride as a vice. Indeed, God opposes the proud, as mentioned in James 4:6.
The illustration used depicts God actively resisting the proud, similar to a government thwarting terrorists or a tide pushing against a boat. God establishes opposition against those who are proud. Pride, a serious sin in the Bible, serves as the root of other sinful behaviors. Lucifer epitomized pride when he rebelled against God (Isaiah 14:12-15), and the first humans demonstrated pride by disobeying God’s direct command (Genesis 3:1-7). The Israelites’ ongoing struggles with God often stemmed from their pride and lack of faith (see Exodus 32:1-6; Hosea 13:6; Amos 4:1-5). Whenever humans sin, their actions can be linked back to a rejection of God and His commands, which reflects pride.
Ecclesiastes 7:29 declares, “God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path” (NLT). This applies to our first ancestors, Adam and Eve, and all humanity thereafter. In our pride, we tend towards self-rule, turning away from God and His principles. As Paul explained, “Although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened” «ProfessingThemselves to be wise, they became fools,”, (Romans 1:22).
The antidote to pride is humility, which entails acknowledging our status as sinners and turning to the Savior who sacrificed His life for our reconciliation with the Father. True humility involves laying down our arms, ceasing to do battle against the Lord, and pledging loyalty to the Father. Humility requires us to steer our boat to flow with God’s tide, not against it. God gives grace to the humble.
Scripture provides numerous instances of God actively resisting the proud. King Nebuchadnezzar, for example, suffered a period of insanity after pridefully attempting to claim the glory for Babylon’s achievements (Daniel 4:28-33). King Herod faced a tragic fate when he sought to be exalted as a god (Acts 12:20-23). Various nations were judged for their pride, including Moab (Zephaniah 2:9-10), Judah “Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.”, (Jeremiah 13:9), Israel “And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,”, (Isaiah 9:9), Philistia “And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.”, (Zechariah 9:6), Assyria Zechariah 3:11, and Edom (Obadiah 1:2-4).
Isaiah 2:11–12, 17 has a warning for all who wo
They should not think more highly of themselves than they ought to think:
The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled
and human pride brought low;
the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
The Lord Almighty has a day in store
for all the proud and lofty,
for all that is exalted
(and they will be humbled)…
The arrogance of man will be brought low
and human pride humbled;
the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
