Message
I had a friend who was a brilliant judge. Though we were close, he had one weakness — pride. Many years ago, I was travelling to Abuja, and I saw him coming out of the plane I was going to board with two people standing to his left and right. I approached him to greet him warmly, but he just looked at me and said, “Who is this?” I replied, “Hello, it's me, Adeboye, your friend.” Then, one of the people standing by him whispered to me, “He has lost his memory.” I was told that he couldn’t remember who he was or even recognise any of his children. Everything was gone just like that.
Anyone who allows pride into his or her heart will suffer the same fate as the devil. Today’s Bible reading tells us that he was full of wisdom, perfect in beauty, and in his ways until iniquity was found in him. That iniquity was revealed in verse 17: his heart was lifted up because of his beauty, and he corrupted his wisdom because of his brightness. Pride was found in him, and, as expected, it led to his downfall.
God desires to share His wisdom and brilliance with men, but many times, people don’t last in the lofty positions He places them in because of pride. tells us how Lucifer became proud: he wanted to exalt himself above God. In those few verses, the word ‘I’ is repeated many times. This is one way to tell if you are becoming proud or not. When life becomes all about you, your achievements, the things you can do, how you are better than others, and why you must be honoured and exalted, then pride has already crept into your heart. If that is the case, you must repent immediately because pride has only one agenda in people’s lives: to bring them down ().
Beloved, you must recognise that there is a God who can lift you up and also bring you down. You must also recognise that it is not by strength that any man prevails. says that it is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed. It is because of His mercy that you and I are still here. If you are humble, God will give you grace. If you are proud, He will resist you (). The choice is yours. Choose wisely!