God Resists the Proud

“All of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5).

We need a new realization of our Savior’s humility. Without it we are in trouble, for God “resisteth the proud.” “Resisteth” embodies the thought of being set in battle array. God must judge pride for He hates it. He says of those tainted with pride, “These are a smoke in My nose, a fire that burneth all the day” (Isaiah 65:5). Can there be peace or blessing under such circumstances?

Pride provokes the wrath and fury of God. Blinded by pride, Pharaoh and his army perished in the engulfing waters of the Red Sea. The mighty Nebuchadnezzar, filled with self-praise, was punished by the Lord. He was made to crawl on the ground like a beast and eat grass until, in complete humility, he cried to God for mercy.

God has always resisted the proud. He always will! Hear His warning: “O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord” (Jeremiah 49:16). “Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:21).

On the other hand, how much more joyous and rewarding is the Lord’s promise to those who practice His humility. He “giveth grace to the humble.” There is an uninterrupted flow of God’s unremitting favor into the lives of those who obey God in respect to humility. “What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8).

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:6). The Lord will do the exalting if we do the humbling. “Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14:11). It is not necessary for the believer to parade his own importance. He need not sound his own trumpet. God never fails to reward faithfulness. “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up” (James 4:10).

—Condensed from Living Peacefully by J. Allen Blair.

“Every Christian has a choice between being humble or being humbled.” —Charles Spurgeon