"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18, KJV)." No truer words were ever written, nor were words ever written which cry out more for man to heed. Nevertheless, about all the attention this famous passage gets nowadays is as a trite truism. We simply do not heed the warning. We give it lip service and nothing more.

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glorifying self. I have seen this happen to preachers, deacons, and missionaries, as well as to rank and file Christians. Pride will have them proclaiming how many people they led to Christ, or how many people they have ministered to in one way or another, from visiting the sick to participating in a Carpenters for Christ project, to going on a mission trip, or just teaching a child's Sunday School class. It can happen to us before we know it. In fact, it often happens without our knowing it until the fall has occurred. Pride is self-deceiving, causing us to slip into it unconsciously, and once it has taken hold, it will lead us, for all our good intentions, astray. Even in endeavoring to do God's will, we will slip and fall if we allow pride to invade our minds and hearts. Once we allow pride to lead us, rather than the will of God, we begin to make false steps. It is a simple matter of allowing ourselves to take charge of our "ministry" rather than following the leading of the Holy Spirit. When we do so, even when our intentions are good, we will, sooner or later, get ourselves into trouble. When we become prideful of our good works, and follow our own path, we will suffer a fall, and our well-intentioned good works can often be damaged or destroyed as a consequence. We must be vigilant to guard against the sin of pride, even in trying to serve the Lord. 

Yours in Christ,    Tom Woodard