How to Overcome Pride

“How art thou fallen from heaven O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations.” (Isaiah 14:12)

“Ye are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there’s no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it.” (John 8:44)

Lucifer went from being the “son of the morning” to becoming the “father of lies.” How did this happen? This is a startling and vivid picture of the danger of losing the truth. Before God created the world, He made the angels. Above all the angels were three archangels—Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer. Each of these glorious beings had a responsibility to lead other angels in praise and worship and service to God. When God named them, He picked names with meaning. Michael means “who is like God?” Gabriel means “strong man of God.” And Lucifer means “light-bringer.” God called him the “son of the morning” or a morning star, which is very significant because that is one of the names of Jesus. (Revelation 22:16)

We are still dealing with Lucifer’s loss of trustworthiness, loss of transparent honesty, loss of integrity and character, and the sin he brought into the world through Adam even today. The repercussions of the absence of truth in a person’s life last far into the future. Before you give up truth, consider the consequences of dishonesty, the consequences of lying, the consequences of deceiving others, the consequences of playing the life of a hypocrite. It will destroy everything good and beautiful in your life. And, you will not be able to limit the fallout—allowing the truth to flee from you will damage your family and those around you, perhaps for many generations to come.

If truth forsakes you, you are already on the way to a destiny of destruction. This drastic transformation is not just limited to the devil—it will happen in your life if you let truth run away. Many a man and woman of character have forfeited integrity and honesty as the truth forsook them. The question then is, “What happened to Lucifer to so transform him?” The answer is found in Isaiah 14.

For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Isaiah 14:13&14

Notice that his problem started in his heart. The loss of truth, the loss of honesty, the loss of integrity always starts there. The person who trusts his heart is incredibly foolish. Why? Because your heart is deceitful above all things, the Bible says, and desperately wicked. (Jeremiah 17:9) You cannot follow your heart. You can follow the word of God. To keep the truth, we must follow what God leads us to do by His Spirit and by His Word. Notice the five statements Lucifer made:

1. I will ascend into heaven.
2. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.
3. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides in the north.
4. I will ascend above the height of the clouds.
5. I will be like the most High.

Now what is, “I will”? It is a statement of ambition. Now, ambition is a wonderful blessing. It is a part of the character of God; and because we were made in God’s image, we have ambition as well. The problem comes when ambition goes awry. All sin is an aberration or a distortion of something that God made good.

The thing that destroyed Lucifer was pride. He was filled with pride over his own achievements, his own abilities, his own accomplishments, and his own God-given nature. The success that Lucifer achieved within God’s rules and God’s will led him to believe that he did not need God. He forgot that everything he had was a result of God’s design.

That began the decision making process to take his ambition and extend it outside of God’s will; and when that happened, Lucifer lost his integrity. If we allow pride to grow in our hearts, we will lose our integrity also. Every good thing that you have and every good thing that you do is a direct result of the goodness and grace of Almighty God.

The loss of truth from your life and the horrible consequences that follow begin when your ambition is twisted and you start taking credit for accomplishments and achievements that ultimately belong to God. That is how the son of the morning became the father of lies. And it will devastate your life if you do not guard against it.

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