Pride Comes Before the Fall

Proverbs 18:12 A proud person will soon be ruined, but a humble person will be honoured.

No doubt you’ve heard that Proverb: “pride comes before the fall”.

How often have you seen the guy who’s absolutely full of himself, living the high life, walking over the top of people, eventually crash and burn? You can probably think of a few people like that right now.

But that verse in Proverbs – Chapter 18, verse 12 – it comes in two parts. Allow me to share it with you:

A proud person will soon be ruined, but a humble person will be honoured.

That’s a very Hebrew way of thinking. A lot of the book of Proverbs comes in “couplets” like that; in two equal and opposite thoughts or ideas. And here, it’s interesting that pride is linked to ruin and destruction, whilst humility is linked to honour.

The proud person never expects to fall. They never expect to be ruined. But speaking as someone who lived much of the first half of his life like that, I can tell you, it’s absolutely inevitable.

And I’m fairly certain that the humble person never expects to be honoured, either. It’s just not in their thinking. And the fact that seeking out honour isn’t what they’re about, when you think about it, is the essence of what makes them humble.

Just think for a moment, of the humble people in your life … now think of the proud people. Which do you respect more? Which do you honour more? Which do you want to hang out with, more?

It’s obvious. We gravitate towards the humble people in our lives, and for good reason. Proud people belittle us. That’s why ultimately, their pride leads to their downfall. On the other hand, humble people build you up, so the natural consequence of their humility is that others honour them.

So might I ask you this then: which sort of person are you? Are you proud and headed for ruin and destruction? Or are you humble, and honoured in the hearts of those around you? It’s one or the other, you can’t be both.

I once heard someone say that there are two types of people; those who walk into a room and say, “Here I am!” and those who walk into the room and say “Oh, there you are.” Which one are you?

A proud person will soon be ruined, but a humble person will be honoured.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.

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