Obadiah 1:3
“The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?”
Edom had exalted herself as a nation that could not be destroyed. She thought that her location in the rocky, mountainous region would keep anyone from being able to destroy her. Yet, it was not the location that destroyed her, it was the pride in her heart that destroyed her. God said, “The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee…” Her pride led her to believe that she was too big to be destroyed.
Pride is the greatest deceiver of all. It was the pride of Lucifer’s heart that destroyed him. This is why he tries to get people to believe in their own goodness because he knows if they will have pride of heart that they will destroy themselves. Proverbs 16:18 says it well when it says, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” Before a person, institution or nation is destroyed, you will always find a proud heart and a haughty spirit. Pride is the greatest deceiver of all.
The biggest battle you will fight in your life is the battle against pride. This battle will never end. As long as you live in your flesh you will have to battle pride. Our flesh is corrupt by nature, and the sinfulness of our heart wants us to believe that we are good. This is why you must continually watch and battle a proud heart.
Pride has a way of creeping into the life of every individual. One of the ways it creeps in is through false humility. The opposite of pride is humility. The heart will deceive someone of their own humility only to let pride take control their heart. You must be careful that you don't allow a false humility to control your attitude. A false humility never sees its own faults. The proud heart can see the faults of others, but will never see its own flaws. The proud heart will see what is wrong with another’s family, but it will never see the faults of their own family. The proud heart will see what is wrong with another’s Christianity, but will never see where they are wrong. Watch out for the pride of false humility.
Moreover, a proud heart is one that can come from its own perceived failures. I know this may sound strange, but a person can easily fall into the trap of feeling sorry for themselves. A person who perceives themselves as having poor self-esteem is truly revealing the pride of their own heart. Your own self-esteem means that you are looking at your own goodness and not at God’s. We are nothing of our own, and to feel that our self-esteem is not what it should be is to believe that on our own merit we could be better. This is pride! Don't let pride deceive you into believing in your own poor self-esteem.
The source of a proud heart comes from having a wrong focus. A proud heart comes from focusing on your own goodness and self-worth instead of on the goodness and greatness of God. When you place your eyes on God, you will find that you don't really matter. When you are focused on God, you will find it is not hard to admit your perceived flaws because it is not about you but about Him. Friend, don't be deceived by the pride of your heart. Stop running from obvious flaws through denial and let the denial of those flaws be the alarm to get you refocused on God. You will never have a problem with a proud heart as long as you stay focused on God.