“Will a man rob God?” (Mal. 3:8, NKJV)
In this, as well as in the next number of teachings, we will look at the twelve specific fruits from which the root of pride can be discerned. This is has been researched from a variety of texts that either partly, or in 2their entirety, deal with this subject: John Howard Yoder: The Politics of Jesus; C.S. Lewis: Mere Christianity; Guy Hersberger: The Way of the Cross in Human Relationships; C. J. Mahaney: Humility; Andrew Murray: Absolute Surrender; Floyd McClung: Whole-hearted – Letting Jesus be Lord; Basilea Schlink: Those Who Love Him; Stuart Scott: From Pride to Humility: A Biblical Perspective; Jim Wallis: Agenda for Biblical People; en C.J. Mahaney: Humility: True Greatness, and then, of course, own insight, interpretation, and experience.
Firstly: An elderly believer taught me this important lessons years ago, in Zimbabwe: “In all of God’s affairs, you may take the gold, but never take the glory.” This aphorism is most probably based on Isa. 42:8, which reads, in the KJV : “I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another …” There is nothing you have or own that does not come from the gracious hand of God. This includes all your abilities, talents, possessions, attributes, etc. By taking credit for anything that God has wrought inside of you (Phil. 2:13), is to in truth steal the glory and thanksgiving which should rightfully be shown to Him (Matt. 6:13; Jonah 2:9; Rev. 4:9; 7:12). Pride disdains God’s hand that abundantly invests in your life, thus robbing Him of the honour that belongs to Him alone.
In 2 Cor. 9:10-11 a great truth concerning this matter is made clear: “Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.” If you have a wrong motive for wanting to do something good for another, you are not giving thanks to God, but rather robbing Him of His honour.
Scripture makes it clear that God, “who gives to all liberally and without reproach” (James 1:5), “shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19), “… as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3). He, alone, is worthy of all honour and glory (1 Tim. 6:1).
Like Mal. 3:8 then rightly asks – “Will a man rob God?”
Pride always takes honour for the self, always seeks recognition and praise. Pride thus always seeks a good reason to be noticed by other people as the one who brought about good things, and bathes himself/herself in the congratulations, accolades and honour they are showered with.
Man’s general immense need for recognition is often the feeding ground for a deep misleading of the self, and we will often make it seem as if we are singlehandedly responsible for our own success. This is often also the driving force behind most of the things we do well, so that the people that benefit from it, and the people around us, praise and honour us for what we’ve done. This speaks of a deep root of pride, or self-centredness, and an immense need for recognition.
This root is especially visible if one accepts honour for things that were not your doing, for which you were not responsible.
In the Old Testament this state was punishable by death. In Lev. 7:20 and 21 the punishment for this is presented to those who are guilty: “But the person who eats the flesh of the sacrifice of the peace offering that belongs to the Lord, while he is unclean, that person shall be cut off from his people. Moreover the person who touches any unclean thing, such as human uncleanness, an unclean animal, or any abominable unclean thing, and who eats the flesh of the sacrifice of the peace offering that belongs to the Lord, that person shall be cut off from his people.” In the New Testament this is obviously not something physical that belongs to God but that you claim for yourself, but often that you pretend to be the one who was responsible for something happening, and not someone else. As you are robbing someone of their honour, you are also robbing the honour of God – “I hate robbery for burnt offering”, says God in Isa. 61:8, especially if he is robbing his “brother by violence” (Ezek. 18:18). 1 Cor. 6:8: “No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren!” And therefore most believers “make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness” (Luke 11:30)!
In 1 Thess. 4:6 it is spelled out that someone who cheats his brother and steals his honour will be avenged by God Himself, “because the Lord is the avenger of all such”.
In 1 Sam. 16:7 we also read of where the Lord says to Samuel, about Saul: “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” David, the one who suffered immensely through, and was robbed by, Saul’s deep-seated pride, prays this heartrending prayer in Ps. 59:12 about this: “For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips, let them even be taken in their pride, and for the cursing and lying which they speak.”
God “desire[s] truth in the inward parts” (Ps. 51:6) – pride destroys inner truth. Let our prayer then always be the prayer of David in Ps. 19:14: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, o Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.”
This fruit of pride is thus self-centredness. In Phil. 2:3-8 Paul describes this attitude of the heart: “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
Let the Holy Spirit make you aware of whether you often shift the attention to yourself, albeit in subtle ways, or if your focus is on always getting the best out of a situation, or showcasing yourself in the best possible light. 1 Cor. 10:24: “Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.”
- Selah: Is this fruit perhaps present within you? Lay your heart bare before God.
- Read: 12-15; 2 Cor. 12-13.
- Memorise: 2 Cor. 12:9 (This is the way in which the fruits are dealt with! Praise God!).
- For a more in-depth understanding: Read Jim Wallis’s book Agenda for Biblical People.
