Proverbs 16:18 says: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”

When you start to look for it, you start to notice how many times pride and humility are at work in the Bible. Pride causes people to make massive blunders, mistakes, and to engage in outright sin. Humility is continually lifted up as a virtue. A person who is humble is able to put aside their own selfish interests, and is more ready to listen to God and serve the people around them.

This verse from Proverbs 16 says that pride “goes before destruction.” When you are self-centred and self-serving, disaster is coming!

One example is Goliath. He taunted and threatened God’s people. This was an act of arrogance. Shortly thereafter, David took him down! He also cut off his head (but that part isn’t usually mentioned in the Sunday School version of the story)! If you don’t believe me look up 1 Samuel 17:51.

Another example—and this is perhaps the biggest example of all—is Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. They thought they knew better than God. This was an act of arrogance. Their fall had disastrous implications for everybody.

Brothers and sisters, if you want to avoid destruction, call on God for help and be humble. If you are both faithful and humble, that doesn’t guarantee that you’ll never have problems. But when we think we know better than God, and when we act as if we know better than God, things have a way of falling apart.

When you seek to be humble, you are more ready to listen to God. You are also quicker to serve and help the people around you.

“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”

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Notes:

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.