Pride Purchases a Perpetual Penalty

Pride Purchases a Perpetual Penalty

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. — Proverbs 16:18

Sometimes there are some bills in life you can negotiate, delay, or even escape. Pride (sinful) isn’t one of them. Pride can be a purchase we make often knowingly, sometimes unknowingly, and the penalty attached to it is both costly and constant—especially as it relates to embracing the will of God and the entrance to eternal life.

Scripture doesn’t treat pride as a trivial error or a personality trait. It treats pride as a spiritual malignancy that, if not mitigated, will subject you to generational as well as eternal consequences.

Pride is subtle enough to feel harmless, yet serious enough to separate us from God. It promises elevation but delivers subjugation and destruction. It whispers self-confidence but produces self-deception. And if left unchecked, pride will always charge more than we intended to pay. It is indeed a carnal check that, if you cash it, comes with considerable consequences.

Let’s trek through the biblical reality behind this truth: Pride purchases a perpetual penalty.

I submit to you pride is one of those silent sins that rarely announces itself. It doesn’t always storm loudly; it slips in subtly. It shows up in the moments we stop listening and loving the Lord, as well as stop yielding or stop believing we need God. Pride feels empowering in the moment, but Scripture reminds us it’s a purchase with a painful and perpetual price tag without repentance.

As our opening text profoundly proclaims, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). And in Proverbs 6:16–19, pride is listed on God’s not just naughty but detestable list in the number one position.

Pride dupes us into thinking we’re standing strong right before we stumble. As a result of pride’s polluted persuasion, we position ourselves in self-sufficiency before we discover how frail and broken we really are. Pride hardens the heart, blocks repentance, decimates relationships, and distances us from the only One who can restore and rescue us.

Furthermore, pride’s penalty is perpetual because it disconnects you from the only source of life. You see, pride separates us from God, and separation from God is the essence of spiritual death. Proverbs 16:5 declares, “The Lord detests all the proud of heart.”

Here are some closing thoughts. Pride is considerably costly because it convinces us we can live without God. It blinds us to our needs, hardens us against correction, rejects repentance and the reward that comes with it, and pushes us toward a penalty that we could never pay for. “The wages of sin is death” (eternal separation from God), but “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). An honest humility that is in step with surrender breaks the curse cycle and opens the door to grace.

The Word of God declares, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).

The moment we bow low, God lifts us up. The moment we admit our need, He meets us with mercy. Therefore, I exhort you to choose one area where you’ve been trusting in yourself. With conviction, change course by deciding to demote yourself and promote the purposes and will of God.

Not a sermon, just some thoughts.
FtGG