The Sin of Pride (Part Two)

Daily Scripture Threshing for Saturday, May 21, 2022

Today Text: Obadiah 1-14

Key Verse: Obadiah 3 (HCSB): “Your presumptuous heart has deceived you, you who live in clefts of the rock in your home on the heights, who say to yourself, “Who can bring me down to the ground?”

We already know pride to be wrong but we may not have really thought about it to be sin. But, it is not just a sin, but perhaps the greatest sin of all. When the spirit of pride is in a life, it moves the person to want to appear bigger than he really is. Pride is a detestable character in most cultures and history. God detests pride. He always has a way of making the man of proudful spirit mock himself. That is the meaning of “pride comes before the fall.” Yes, when you allow pride in your life, make a room for a fall. The story of Edom and Judah illustrates the consequence of pride. Jacob had taken an advantage of his brother’s hunger to get his birthright and his blessing of the firstborn. Though it was all Esau’s fault, he was unforgiving, and grew hostile against his brother—a hostility that passed down to their descendants.

The Edomites always needed Israel, but the revenge mission never assuaged. Instead, it became, for them, a motive for pride. So, they built a self-reliant nation of their own. No problem about that. But God hates it when a people feels independent of Him or self-sufficient. God does not want us to take pride in our accomplishments. He wants us to be successful but never intended our success as an instrument to hurt or oppress others. Edom shows us the very destructive side of pride. We learn from them that God hates it when we become presumptuous in our heart because of what we have done. “Your presumptuous heart has deceived you, you who live in clefts of the rock in your home on the heights, who say to yourself, “Who can bring me down to the ground?”” (verse 3) There is always a thin line between self esteem and arrogance. We learn from James 4:6 that God gives us more grace and shows favor to us when we are humble and opposes us when we are proud.

Quote for the Day: “Pride sets a man on a tall seat without a footing; so that when he falls, the crash is fatal.” (Simon Olatunji)

Prayer: Dear Lord, You hate pride, so deliver me from it, I pray. Do not let me be convinced that my fortresses are my strengths. Let me continue to trust You as the lifter up of my head — in Jesus’ name. Amen.

With all my love and prayers,

Rev Simon Wale Olatunji, Ph.D.

Your Darling Bishop (DaBishop)

For further inquiry and free spiritual help, visit or write:

The Darling Pastor,

2321 S Belt Line Rd., Suite 144,

Grand Prairie TX 75051 USA

+1 (407) 360-8280; (817) 822-8441

[Daily Scripture Threshing is a devotional guide of The House of Prayer Evangel Church USA distributed for free use by individuals, small groups, families, and Christian churches]

Send | Share | Subscribe | Support