Proverbs 16:18-19 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud.

*Note: Today’s verse was changed due to being a duplicate from Apr 8. The given verse is not included in the Scripture Writing Plan for today.

There are many different proverbs that warn us about the danger of pride in our lives. And there are some proverbs that are almost identical to today’s verse. As a matter of fact, the verse listed in the Scripture Writing Plan for today that we covered on Apr 8 is Proverbs 18:12. The two verses are very similar, but do have a few different elements between them which we’ll cover today. The main difference is that it does not mention humility until the next verse - Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud (Proverbs 16:19).

Our proverb today contains a strong warning in its simplest of terms - pride goes before destruction. The author is telling us that our arrogance, our overconfidence, our “I’m going to do things the way I want to do them” attitudes are going to inevitably lead us to ruin. Think about it. When someone is full of themselves or acts self-important and overconfident, what happens? They make mistakes because they put less effort into things, or they say things they shouldn’t because they set themselves up higher than others. And in the end, these things have consequences that are not good. Pride goes before destruction is a simple way to put it, but it describes it perfectly.

But it is also important for us to realize that pride has more consequences than just failure or disaster. It can also blind us to our own weaknesses. We put ourselves at risk when we refuse to see ourselves how we really are. And pride causes us to become critical of other people, damaging relationships and burning bridges that cannot be rebuilt.

Luckily there is a solution to the destruction and damage that can come from pride - humility. And not just humility in general, but humility before God. We must recognize our need for Him and humble ourselves. We definitely do not want to be sharing in the plunder of the proud, as verse 19 puts it. We want to be associating with and in the presence of those who are lowly in spirit - the humble people.

Where do you fall in the comparison? Are you engaging in actions that could lead to your own downfall and imminent failure? Or are you among the lowly in spirit, those who are humble before God and obedient to Him?

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