1 Timothy 3:6-7 – He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
James 4:6-7 – But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Pride is the counterfeit of humility.
The way out of the devil’s trap is to resist his temptation to be proud and instead to humble ourselves before God. God gives grace to those who seek humility, which means that if you are battling pride with humility, God will help you win your war. If in humility you submit yourself to God, you can by God’s power resist the devil.
By either not stepping in his pride trap or stepping out of his pride trap in repentance, eventually the devil will flee from you.
Marketing efforts have been well-funded by the kingdom of darkness to package pride as self-esteem, self-love, and self-actualization—but it’s still the pride trap. In the sin of pride, the counterfeit trinity is me, myself, and I. In pride Satan rebelled against God because he desired to be God. In pride Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit because they wanted to be like God. In pride we reject God’s wisdom, will, and Word because we think we are a better god.
All sin is birthed out of pride. All virtue, all holiness, and all glory to God are birthed out of humility. The key to growing in humility is accepting that it is a direction we can walk in, but never a destination we arrive at in this life.
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For the entire eight-week “Win Your War” sermon series from Pastor Mark, visit www.markdriscoll.org or the Mark Driscoll Ministries app.