Are You in Danger of Destructive Sin?
Proverbs 16:18 says “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
The Lord has used this verse thousands of times in my life. This is an absolute truth. Before a person can be destroyed, before they can fall, they have to be operating in pride and a haughty spirit. Is your life destroyed? Does it look like you’re in a war zone? If you could put a word picture with your life, would it look like a bomb has been dropped on it or like a fire has gone out and everything around you is charred and burned? Does it look like you’ve fallen and you don’t know if you can get up?
According to this verse, you’ve been in pride. Again, as I discuss more in my study of Proverbs, pride doesn’t necessarily mean arrogance. Pride at its simplest form is self-centeredness. Have you been running your own life? Have you put yourself first? Have you put your own ambitions ahead of God’s? Have you ever done what it says in Romans 12:1 and made yourself “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God”? Then, according to Romans 12:2, have you renewed your mind? Or have you just done your own thing? You don’t have to be doing anything evil. You don’t have to be seeking drugs, alcohol, or prostitutes. You don’t have to be in total rebellion to God. But if you’re just doing your own thing and living for yourself, that’s the reason your life is destroyed. That’s the reason that you fell.
If this is you, it’s good for you to see this and recognize that it’s your fault because now you can change. Once we recognize where we’ve fallen short, we can repent. We can humble ourselves and allow God to start lifting us up. Then our lives can take off and be better than we ever thought possible. On the other hand, if we’re like Adam and we blame Eve (Genesis 3:12) and try to pass the buck, nothing will change. As long as we’re blaming other people or our circumstances, we won’t change.
But when we admit that it’s not what’s done to us but rather what’s on the inside of us—pride and a haughty spirit—that caused us to fall, then we can accept responsibility, humble ourselves, repent, and turn to God, and our lives will change and become awesome. As long as we’re victims, we’ll never be victors. We have to quit being victims. We have to stop saying it’s someone else’s fault and start saying, “God, it’s my fault. I’ve had things happen to me, and other people have done things to me. But there are others who’ve had more happen to them than what’s happened to me, and they overcame it. It’s not these things, and it’s not other people. It’s me. I’ve done my own thing. I’ve operated in pride. God, forgive me.” Once we humble ourselves and make ourselves a living sacrifice, our lives will turn around.
I believe that God is speaking directly to many people reading this. Maybe you’ve been blaming everyone else and hadn’t thought about it, but now God is telling you that it was your own pride that got you into your mess. Maybe you weren’t necessarily arrogant, but you did things your way. You were self-centered and didn’t turn to God until you’d already made a mess of things. That’s what got you into this position. Humbling yourself is what will get you out of it.
Living Commentary
Proverbs 16:18
Destruction and falling don’t just happen. They are the result of pride. Stop the pride, and you will stop the destruction.
Most people today don’t believe this proverb. They think that this might be a factor sometimes, but not all the time. Pride is actually encouraged and cherished by most people today (see my note at Proverbs 13:10). But this proverb is absolutely true. Pride always goes before destruction and arrogance before a fall. Whether this is observable to the spectators or not, this is always something that has taken place in the hearts of those who fall.
Proverbs 16:19 says “Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.”
We can be with the proud and the ungodly, and we might get some spoil and have some advantages in the physical realm, but ultimately, it’ll destroy our souls. One day, all of these things that we gained while on this earth will be gone (2 Peter 3:10–11). We’ll stand before God without our houses, our cars, our fancy clothes, or all of our awards, and our pride and arrogance and things that we did to prosper won’t amount to anything. Only if we’ve humbled ourselves and received a relationship with God through faith in Jesus will we be accepted (John 3:16). God’s not going to judge us the way people judged us on earth.
Living Commentary
Proverbs 16:19
Some people would argue against this proverb, but it’s true. Proverbs 16:18 said that pride would produce destruction and cause us to fall. So, even if we got some spoil by pride, it would all vanish away. The end result will be destruction. Therefore, nothing is really gained. But God exalts the humble (1 Peter 5:6).
