Well pleased
And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.” Luke 3:22
Recently, I have heard a couple well meaning speakers say there is good pride and bad pride. I understand what they are saying, like it is the right thing to do to take pride in your work or be proud of who you are. Even being proud to be an American. Certainly, it is important to do a good job and to the best of your ability in whatever you do. It is for sure a good thing to like who you are and who you have become. However, I cannot find any scripture that uses pride in a good way.
In today’s scripture, when Jesus came up out of the water at His baptism, God spoke from heaven and said: “This is my Son that I am well pleased with.” This was an audible voice for everyone to hear that was there that day. Note that God doesn’t say: “This is my Son, and I am very proud of Him.” The reason is because God hates pride. All through the scriptures there are warnings about being prideful and the destruction that comes with it. Below is a short list of verses about pride:
Proverbs 11:2 – Pride brings disgrace; humility brings wisdom.
Isaiah 23:9 – The Lord will humble all who are prideful.
James 5:6 – God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble
Proverbs 8:13 – God hates pride, arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.
Proverbs 16:18 – Pride goes before destruction.
Proverbs 6:16-17 – Pride is an abomination/atrocity to God.
The difference between being proud and being pleased with something or someone is where your focus is being placed. If you are proud of your child for an accomplishment, the focus is on yourself and the fact that you are responsible for the things they have achieved. If you are pleased with your child for their accomplishment, it puts the attention one the child and takes it from yourself. You give honor to whom it is due.
Our focus should always be on others and how we can encourage and build them up. When you are preoccupied with your own life and the things you are going through, that is where pride has an open door to come in and trip you up. I know it seems like a technicality but think about where you are placing your attention the next time you use the word proud or pride. Don’t be fooled like some are, thinking it is right to be proud because we have been given so much. The truth is that we are blessed, but it has nothing to do with who we are, only who our God is. There is no such thing as good pride.
Today I want to encourage you to consider if you have let pride creep into your life. Take inventory of the feelings you have about the things you have accomplished in life. Even if you don’t feel good about your abilities, you can still be in pride. The fact is when you are the center of your life, pride has entered in. Make others your focus today. Look for those you can bless wherever you are. Listen to those who are around you and their cries for help and pray for the hurting people that God brings into your life. Eliminate pride from your life once and for all and ask the Holy Spirit to expose the hidden corner where it may be lurking.
Today’s scripture reading: Luke 3:21-22
21 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.
22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
The Daily Dose 