Isaiah 14:13 For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north.
“Everything begins with a thought, and thoughts are turned into plans, and plans into reality.”— Marshall Sylver
Both transformation and transgression begins as a thought in the heart. Transformational thought reforms our words and actions but transgression corrupts the language and conduct. The sin of pride, plants in the soil of the heart as a seed of smugness and pollutes the mind, words and actions. Habitually entertaining prideful thoughts will make the eyes haughty and tongue stingy. Their eye bulges from fatness; the imaginations of their heart run riot (Psalm 73:7). Pride, a perverse tongue and polluted behaviour are triplets that follow each other. To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech (Proverbs 8:13).
The first sin that soiled Lucifer, the devil, in the most immaculate setting in heaven, was pride. A thought in the worship leader of heaven, Lucifer, grew into transgression and trespass. The corrupt heart corroded his mind, mouth and marred his morality. The haughtiness in his heart translated as arrogant speech and egoistic conduct.
Three simple pointers to diagnose ‘pride of the heart’ are covetousness, callousness and corruption. Pride incites comparison and covetousness. The root cause of greed, materialism and egotism is pride. Secondly, a proud heart is cold and callous. Empathy and compassion will be absent. Thirdly there will be dishonesty and deceit. Pride cannot be hidden; it will corrupt the conduct.
Pride pollutes the 3 Ms – the Mind, Mouth and Morality:
1. Covetous: Covetousness has a complaining voice. Discontent, complaining and comparison can be traced back to selfishness and the ugly sin of pride. But godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Timothy 6:6). Covetousness will make a person greedy; complacency will cause stagnation, but contentment will help them to overflow with gratitude.
2. Callous: A proud heart is a hard nut. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes (Matthew 13:15a). Unfortunately the elite and educated are puffed with worldly knowledge and callousness. This was true in Jesus times and even now. Lack of empathy, harshness and ruthlessness are the character traits of a prideful and callous heart.
3. Conduct: Guarded thought pattern is the gatekeeper of good conduct. Wild and untamed thoughts will lead to a wayward lifestyle. Guard your heart to safeguard your conduct. Rectification of conduct starts by correcting the secret thoughts of the heart.
Put on the garment of humility to drive out covetousness, callousness and conceit.
James 4:6 And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Prayer: Father God, help me to guard the numerous thoughts that rush through my mind and capture any prideful, selfish or complaining thoughts. Give me the grace to be humble always. Amen.
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