Pride of Life; The Boastful Cancer in Humans

If I am to tell you one of the things I know from the Bible and observations, I will tell you that God created the earth and we created the world’s systems. As such, there are things that do not have their source from God; “for everything in the world- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life- comes not from the Father but from the world” – 1 John 2:16.

The pride of life is the boastfulness in one’s self as a result of obvious life achievements. In simple terms, people who have the pride of life might have chalked obvious successes in their life thus far. These achievements now become hinges upon which they swing to and fro. Everything about them is centred on what they have achieved; they begin to believe that their identity is dependent on their achievement.

Nebuchadnezzar and Goliath

Nebuchadnezzar was undoubtedly a great Babylonian King. He earned his reputation through his charisma, war conquests and great riches. He began to boast about himself because of his obvious achievements. If anyone boasts like this without achievements, he or she is just an arrogant liar but that’s not who we are talking about here. Nebuchadnezzar’s achievements were obvious. He was so confident in his experiences and achievements to the extent that he once made a golden monument of himself to be worshipped. To me, that is the highest form of pride of life.

Later, this prideful king was humbled by God. He became like a beast, roaming aimlessly in the wilderness, behaving nothing like a human. When he was restored by God, he realized that no matter the achievements, man is nothing without God.

Goliath was indeed a great warrior for the Philistines. His height, armour and coat of mail alone were unmatched by any other warrior. He had defeated many warlords. So he had the right to boast about himself, and that’s what he did for so long before David killed him.

The Voice of God

Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died - Acts 12:23

There is another strange thing about pride in life where you accept unrealistic accolades about yourself from people without attributing them to God. In that way, you admire it and believe that’s your true identity. This happened to Herod. He gave a great speech and the people praised him for speaking like a god. Herod, not being a God, failed to ascribe those accolades to God for his impeccable gift of oration. As a result, he was struck down by an angel, worms ate him, and he died – because he didn’t ascribe the god-identity bestowed on him to the supreme God. That is also the pride of life.

Conclusion

I didn’t write this article to discourage achievements and the celebration of them. I also love achievements; I have a few of my own and do talk about them sometimes. I write to you to caution you that your achievements are unto the glory of God. Never attach your worth and relevance to your achievements. Otherwise, you are creating a false identity of yourself; you are worshipping the pride of your life. That identity passes away like the wind, and you will soon see how quickly destruction comes to you.

The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever!

May the Lord mend our nets!

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