Sunday: The Tight Fingers of Pride
Daily Lesson for Sunday 12th of April 2026
Pride. When you think of this word, you might picture a proud politician, a rich or famous person, or a peacock. Pride is a feeling that you are more important or better than other people. Indeed, pride is a feeling—one that cannot, and should not, be relied upon.
Image © Theater of the Universe Collection at Goodsalt.com
Pride first began with Lucifer, the covering cherub, who was in close service to God. We don’t know when or how those thoughts of selfishness crept into his heart, but we do know that these thoughts propelled the universe into what we know as the great controversy. We see that Satan is the opposite of God. (Compare Isaiah 14:12-14 and Philippians 2:5-11.) As a result, our world has battled the consequences of sin ever since Satan planted doubt in Adam’s and Eve’s minds and then tempted them to love and trust self above God.
Read 1 John 2:15-17. What three main points does this passage teach you about pride and loving the world?
Can pride ever be positive? Perhaps not in the context that we know it, although we might use the word positively, when speaking about a person’s achievements or in the context of a deep appreciation for something someone has done (“I’m so proud of you!”). It’s important to understand that pursuing excellence and acknowledging and appreciating the gifts and abilities God has given us is not necessarily being proud. According to Scripture, there is a proper kind of self-love (think about Jesus’ command in Mark 12:31, where He says to love others as we love ourselves), but this is always unselfish love. People are also not proud when they have God’s presence in their lives and have a purposeful direction (see 1 Timothy 3:1). People are proud when they don’t give God the glory for what He is doing in their lives.
We should be careful to remember that our possessions, abilities, and accomplishments don’t determine our value. Instead, our value should always come from God, because everything that we have, even that which tempts us to pride, comes only from Him anyway. This is a point we must never forget.
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Ask yourself: How prideful am I, really? How might personal pride be impacting my relationship with God and others? |
When I was a newly minted teacher I thought I was better than my students. I had academic qualifications and a teaching certificate to prove it. It took a little while to learn that being better than everyone else was not what teaching was all about. I had to become a learner like my students to be a successful teacher.
How often do we think that our religion is better than everyone else’s religion and that it is our duty to teach them the truth? When we learn to humble ourselves and realise that we are spiritual learners ourselves, then we are effective in preaching the Gospel.
Jesus said:
Actually I believe it is our duty to “teach people the truth” Humble uneducated farmers from Maine and New England were inspired to carry the message of a soon to return Savior in the 1830’s and 40’s. Out of this movement arose the Seventh Day-Adventist Church in 1863.
I believed and still believe that we as a people have an even more urgent and unique message to carry to our neighbors and the world today. The truths that our pioneers were shown while humbly praying on their knees have not changed despite Satan’s attempts to “deconstruct” them.
I would describe our mission today as, “To show people the truth as it is in Jesus” We should become even more zealous to demonstrate the love of Christ to all we meet, as we see the day approaching, that they too may have eternal life in Him.
Pride always starts when God’s blessings and gifts are misused for self-exaltation. It is tragic to see that what is meant for good is turned into a means for self-glorification. “Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendour…” (Ezekiel 28:12–17). The Bible records that Lucifer was beautiful, wise and privileged; he was highly gifted. He turned God’s blessings and gifts inwards for self-elevation. In the accounting profession, we can call this “misappropriation” or “misallocation”. It is cardinal to remember that all that we are or have is God-given and must be used for the glory of God and not self-glorification. We must never forget the source of all our blessings and gifts: God. The moment we allow them to go into our heads, they become idols and become sin.
Let us examine a few more instances in the Bible when God’s blessings and gifts were abused.
1. “When you have eaten and are satisfied… your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God….You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’” (Deuteronomy 8:11–14, 17). As predicted, the Children of Israel did misuse God’s blessings and went astray. There is nothing like “self-achievement” of “hard-working” without the grace of God. When prosperity is not spiritually managed, it leads to self-exaltation and, ultimately, to forgetting God.
2. “Is not this the great Babylon I have built… by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30). King Nebuchadnezzar attributed his success to his own ingenuity. He took full credit and ignored God. This is a typical example when “success goes into one’s head”. Prosperity and success have a propensity to corrupt the mind and the heart. Without submitting to God, these blessings quickly turn into idols.
3. “For who [d]makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? (1 Corinthians 4:7, NLT). Paul challenged the Corinthians, who were boasting about their gifts, forgetting that all their gifts came from God. None of our gifts or talents, of whichever nature, is self-engineered. Yes, one can exploit God-given potential through hard work and commitment. But even so, hard work and commitment are God’s grace.
May God help us to use His blessings and gifts for His glory and as a means to bless others.
I am so thankful in studying this lesson. My eyes are opened. In everything I have, I achieved, I should always be thankful that they are from God. If one fully understands this like me, then all means of glorification should all be returned to God.
This lesson really helped me . Sometimes we don’t appreciate gifts and talents God has given us. But this lesson reminds me that I must acknowledged God in every way with humbled heart..
Yesterday on my way back from travel, returning to my city, I experienced one of the real consequences of social imbalance we overlook often but exits and breeds social gaps or discriminations among people in our societies today.
I boarded an eighteen-seater bus, sat on the second row and close to the entrance door. I was practically opening the door for other passengers to get off or board. we got to a junction and there where passengers ready to board among whom was a woman not too fat but chubby, she rejected the space at the back seat, now in order to make sure that our driver will not lose that money, I offered her to sit with us in our row, I adjusted she sat down and I maintained my position as it’s well advised that women should not be the ones opening and closing the door in a public transport, for emergency reasons. It was when I closed the door that I saw myself pressed to the door for lack of space, as I was wondering if I made a mistake by offering this woman to sit with us, quarrels ensued among the other now three women sitting with me in the same row. The chubby woman that just came in complained that the other two were uncomfortable with her because they are skinny and hateful of fat people. She said she had faced with discriminations many times from skinny people.
At the next bus stop one of them moved to another row and I became a bit comfortable and was able to talk. I told the chubby woman figuratively that the skinny people are complaining about fat people because the fat people don’t share their fatness with them, I suggested that If fat people tries distributing from their fatness to skinny people, in less than no time, there will not be skinny people again in our society, everyone laughed and the tension was doused immediately. We got to a park and she gave out 1k Naira to a man that she saw begging our driver for assistance, we smiled and continued on our journey.
You can find a way to connect the story with today’s lesson however it suits you, but pride can also be likened to being too spiritually fat in knowledge to accommodate people or people get uncomfortable with our presence, but real Christianity is all about community and comfortability in order to be able to win souls for the kingdom.
There is a trend I have discovered among us as Adventists, we see others – non-Adventists as ignorant and already lost that even evangelising them is a privilege they should be thankful for and this mentality is the reason for lack of evangelism spirit among many of us.
Are we not behaving like the children of Israel that believed they are the chosen ones and don’t need the Gentiles for anything?
Let us close the social spiritual gap which is the results of spiritual imbalance and discriminations and see non-Adventists as humans like us that are also in need of salvation, and distribute from our spiritual fatness – knowledge and experience, salvation messages that will arouse their curiosity and interest in trying to know more about God by exploring our methods and practices.
A simple self-test for your level of pride is to check your reaction to personal criticism, insults and slights against you. Pride will defend itself and even escalate a situation. Humility will enable the criticism, insult, or slight to roll off like water off a duck’s back.
The closer I am to Christ the less I am controlled by pride and more by humility. It’s ironic that pride is celebrated in society when it really should be a source of shame instead.
“God resists the proud” is a biblical principle found in James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5, meaning God actively sets Himself against, or opposes, self-exaltation and arrogance. Conversely, He gives grace to the humble, favoring those who submit to His authority rather than acting in self-sufficiency. I would rather humble myself in the sight of the Lord so that he would lift me up. Rather than being humbled by the Lord.
I have “eaten” enough humble pie to know that I don’t like it, or the taste of feathers. 🤔😉😊
A good example of what maybe necessary for some eliminate pride was Nebuchadnezzar experience, he gave this testimony after he was humiliated. Seven years eating grasslike an ox. What Nebuchadnezzar testified was opposite of what the definition of pride is . “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol(praise enthusiastically), and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” Daniel 4:37. What is pride? Self-centeredness, self-superiority, and self-sufficiency. Closer to the Biblical meaning, pride is one who exalts self above God and others. Going back to the 1st week of this quarter. Pray to God that we are not in need of nothing. We are in need of Christ as our Saviour, willing to be made willing to fulfill Gods pleasure.
We live in a social media–driven society where people do all manner of things for likes, follows and impressions. Pride has become so subtle in manifestation that those who have it are hardly aware of its many forms and shapes for example intellectual pride, pride of achievement, pride of wealth, or even pride in our own goodness implying that we all carry it in different degrees, whether we admit it or not. Strangely, it is incredibly easy to recognize and condemn pride in others but very hard to admit its traces in our own lives. Scripture warns us about this hidden danger: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). This reminder calls us to humility, urging us to examine our hearts rather than focus on the faults of others.
Throughout history, humanity has continually fallen prey to pride, with strains of human self-confidence sometimes elevating our own reasoning above trust in God. Many now place greater faith in personal capability than in divine guidance, and this mindset can quietly shape our homes. Our children need to see an authentic Christian life modeled before them, yet we often display pride in subtle ways. The Bible offers a better path: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). May we therefore model authenticity in our families and neighborhoods instead of perfection, care more about our hearts than appearances, and value what God thinks above fleeting impressions shaped by pride.
God commended Moses for his humility.If we notice the life of Moses. He was always an intercessor for the people he was asked to lead. How many times did he humbly ask God to give him the punishment that the people deserved. He was willing to die even for them to be saved ,even though they were the one’s that deserved the the consequences of their behavior. He was described by God in Numbers as the meekest person on earth. This indicates that humility is always about putting others first and pride is always about self centeredness.
May God help us all to be humble.
The reality of the matter is that as long as we live in this world waiting for the soon return of Jesus,we cannot abandon the world. Rather,we need to supplicate the Holy Spirit to make choices that honor God.
I’ve often wondered if we can contribute to other peoples pride. Can giving titles such as Reverend, Father, Doctor or giving letters to someone’s name contribute to their thinking more highly of themselves. I appreciate when people perform well in song and music, but should I applaud them. I’m reminded of the past GC President who asked people not to applaud him at the GC session. Maybe the beginner who stumbles needs the encouragement more than the professional.
Your thoughts. ??
I feel like we are not responsible for people’s pride. That is a heart issue. Acknowledging that we are blessed by people’s actions or service is a good thing, I think. Yes, some of them may handle it the wrong way, but that is true of many things.
We can be funny – we criticize clapping, but everyone can tell the difference between a hearty amen (either for a point in a sermon or a musical number) and a tepid amen. Who are we kidding? If the issue is promoting pride, we should be absolutely silent in church. Or maybe wear a bag on our heads. I have preached sermons and I notice people’s facial expressions, nods etc. Should they not show that in case I become proud?
Thank you for a good point. I am now thinking of our young people in church when they sing in front. Many times when they sing and after church, some church members would say, ‘hey I love your voice,’ hey your group has this beautiful voice’. This to me will boost this pride in them that their voice is their own. What do you think? As church members, we need to stress to young people that all gifts given is from God. And we should not comment like that because we are ultimately pushing pride in their lives. Your thoughts please.
I think genuine compliments are valuable things and I think in and of themselves they do not cause pride. If someone has an orientation towards pride, the smallest thing could set them off. That being said, I think a lot of “prideful” people are actually very insecure. The roots of this likely go back to childhood. We need affirmation when we are very young so we will have healthy self-concepts (neither too high or too low). Those who don’t get this often seek it elsewhere and act proud in order to be noticed.
When it comes to young people, I think we should err on the side of praise. These children/teens are still growing and some of them don’t get much affirmation at home. They need to feel valuable and a blessing to the church.
However, we can encourage pride if we constantly praise one person or group. I think we’ve all seen parents who gush over their child so much that the child is encouraged to be self-absorbed. And that is not a good thing. However, if we regularly compliment many people for many things, I think it’s easier for each person to think “I feel good about doing that and my friend is good at something else and that person in this way” and so on. Everyone is valued and pride is less likely.
I also think there are ways to subtly work in God to compliments. For example telling the singing group, “Thank you for allowing God to use you to bless us today”. Or “I’m thankful to God that He has blessed you with a beautiful voice.” We can respond similarly to compliments, giving credit to God for blessing us. This keeps us more grounded.
The Apostle Johns’ quote here has “Only one item that points to pride—The Pride of Life.” And the other two items are about “Lust.” And his final point is about “Lust” vanishing with this world too.
May the almighty God grant you another opportunity in the next coming lessons to give clarification as you did to this lesson
Since knowing the correct meaning of words is important, I want to make sure to understand them correctly. Looking up the word ‘pride’ in the “Dictionary Definitions from Oxford Languages”, I find various interpretations of the word ‘pride’:
One is: “A feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.”
Synonyms are: pleasure, joy, delight, gratification, fulfillment.
Another is: “Consciousness of one’s own dignity.”
Synonyms are: self-esteem, dignity, honor, self-respect, ego.
It is when ‘pride’ expresses “the quality of having an excessively high opinion of oneself or one’s importance” that it becomes the spiritual ‘sin of pride’.
Its synonyms are: arrogance, vanity, self-importance, hubris.
As the lesson points out, the expression of pride when one achieves a great outcome of a difficult task – like the recent space flight around the moon – is healthy. But then there is the spiritual pride that measures oneself as being ‘better’ than others; the world’s standard of judging, which Jesus speaks against – Matt.7:1-5.
Is ‘pride’ not all about who receives the glory? Even well-deserved pride needs to be willing to acknowledge our Creator’s design of us which gave us capacities with which to achieve great feats (great in our own eyes, anyway).
Is it possible to not be aware of one’s pride or arrogance? To find out, examining one’s willingness to humble ‘self’ and genuinely acknowledge and reject self-pride would be able to tell us. Ultimately, our willingness to accept God’s authority to judge us defeats self-pride – Isaiah 66:2; Psalm 51:17; James 4:6; Psalm 147:3.
The lesson says pride is bad, but then has all sorts of disclaimers of things that are not “pride”. Maybe it would be easier to just say there is good pride and bad pride. Because, like it or not, we use the word pride in different ways.
We all know people (or sadly maybe our own parents) who never expressed pride in their children because they wanted to keep them humble. Unfortunately, this usually backfires. The people who never were sure how their family felt about them are usually the most likely to strive for recognition and attention. I don’t think it is wrong to tell people “Good job” or that we’re proud of them. If it was, God would have been wrong to brag about Job. Paul would have been wrong to give shout outs to the many believers in Rome.
Similarly, I don’t think it’s wrong to feel proud of our accomplishments or feel good about things we’ve done. Without this pride, it would likely be impossible to get a job. But we do have to be careful because once we start comparing ourselves to others and wanting what they have or thinking we’re better then them, we are now experiencing sinful pride.
I don’t think Lucifer’s issue was that he liked being beautiful or talented. He decided that He wanted God’s position and so began to focus on himself. Instead of being thankful for God blessing him, he felt what he had made him qualified for more. We need to watch out for these same feelings.
Pride may lead me away from God. I can’t even make a hair grow in my own head without His permission; how can I feel that my achievements are solely mine? Yes, hard work may lead to good results, but in the end, the glory must be to the One Who gives me the breath of life.
It is clever how the enemy of pride likes to sneak into our lives and pride enters quickly within political activity. I have seen citizens who were sweet, humble believers get their picture with the Governor, or get a cellphone number of a Member of Congress, and all of a sudden they think really highly of themselves.
Pride manifests when we try to cut others out of our space of influence, keep others down, and constantly compare ourselves to other people. Eventually, what is in our hearts will come out. It will manifest through our comments, whether verbally or in writing, in aggressive or condescending ways. It will come out in how we address someone on social media, as a cutting remark or as a slight attack against another person behind their back.
If we don’t identify pride in our hearts and deal with it, this enemy WILL take over.
Good highlights on pride and humility and I am indeed humbled in the feet of Jesus. Amen!