“haughty”

God said, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18 The word haughty means - "showing oneself above others" which is the opposite of humility which means lowliness of mind – God said this about humility, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” Philippians 2:3 When a Christian becomes “haughty” it is the next step after pride that “before their fall” from honoring God. A God honoring believer is full of humility and love for other believers, and especially for the Lord’s house. The Chinese say, "Who flies not high falls not low;" and "A great tree attracts the wind." As Christians we do not want to fall low, nor do we want to attract the winds to blow us down. As Christians, we must keep ourselves reminded of God’s grace, always remembering as the Apostle Paul that without grace we are nothing, “But by the grace of God I am what I am” 1 Cor. 15:10. And without grace we will become prideful and haughty and fall into apostasy. As Christians and especially learned believers and Ministers of all kinds and even as churches we need to read this very closely, "The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD." Obadiah 1:3 - 4 The Lord promised that if we fly to high, He (God) will bring us down. We do not have our own strength to fly on our own nor to fly above everyone else, our flight in this flesh is by God’s grace. I am not talking about money, I am talking about haughtiness and pride, if we as Christians lose our true humility we will fly to high and fall on our faces, God will assure us of it. God said to us, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” Romans 12:3 God has given us grace to fly in His ministry and He can take that grace away if we fail to walk in the humility of His grace. We need to remember that Christians are God’s elected children and Churches belong to God and God has given both to Jesus Christ for His possession, and Jesus loved both so much He died for both. As Pastors we better handle with much care and love and not prideful or haughty as though we fly above them. So please let me remind us all as Paul did in his letter to the church at Rome, “Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God,” Romans 15:15 That we walk in the love and grace of God, and we need to continue that Christian walk in that love and grace not in pride or haughtiness. None of us are such a large tree with so much strength that the wind cannot blow us over. Listen very closely to this verse, “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:2 If a man functions outside of love and grace he is NOTHING! “For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.” Galatians 6:3 If the wind blows over a high tree it is worthless!