In the list of deadly sins, pride is usually first on the list. As Augustine said, ‘It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.’ Pride is such a dangerous sin because it so easily looks like virtue, but ultimately this desire to be like God leads us into dangerous, graceless territories, away from the Garden of Eden into the wilderness of life without God (see Gen 3). Pride (also known as hubris) is excessive belief in one’s own abilities that interferes with the individual’s recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise, a desire to be ‘like God’ that elevates ourselves above God; as Thomas Aquinas commented, ‘the root of pride is found to consist in man not being, in some way, subject to God and His rule.’
Jesus told a parable that shows us pride can even creep into prayer (Luke 18:9-14). Proverbs is full of warnings about pride (Prov 16:18, Prov 11:2, Prov 29:23), and it is clear that whilst believers may eschew many obvious sins (murder, adultery and so on), there can easily be a tendency to pride which is not quite so easy to discern.
We live in a world which urges us to be proud of our talents, our achievements and our accomplishments. The danger comes when we believe the lie that it’s all down to us, instead of acknowledging that every talent we have is God-given and every achievement we accomplish is thanks to His help. The opposite of pride is humility, a desire to see God exalted above everything (see Is 2:11,17). We know that God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble (1 Pet 5:5-6), so it is good for us to ask God to reveal those areas in our lives where we are relying on ourselves, when arrogance is taking root, and to pray for the grace ‘to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.’ (Micah 6:8)