In Psalm 73, we have the story of wicked men oppressing the weak and boasting about it.

We should not boast, try to draw attention to ourselves, or otherwise seek to manipulate people to give us honor. Jesus had a few things to say about the hypocrites who stood on the street corner and let everybody know about their great spirituality (Matthew 6:1-16).

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8‭-‬9). None of us did a single work that made us deserving of being saved. Not a single one of us is righteous. We were saved through faith, only by His grace. For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead (James 2:26). Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God (Romans 15:17).

False teachers, liars, false prophets, false apostles all attempt to destroy the truth; and in order to destroy the truth, you have to discredit the truth teachers. And so they came into Corinth and then attempted to destroy Paul’s credibility. As a result, Paul has to defend himself. In fact, he has to defend himself against their specific accusations. He has to take them on.

What God Loves That Makes Him Hate Pride

What’s the beautiful thing that is replaced or ruined by pride? What does God love so much that he must hate pride with all his might? The answer is plain from all these texts.

• He loves the heart that boasts in the Lord.
• He loves the heart that gives him credit for what he alone can do.
• He loves the heart that relies on his power.
• He loves the heart that wants him to get the glory in all things and that wants the power of his Son to shine in our weakness.

And if you have caught on to the essence of Christian Hedonism, you will know that when God delights in this, he delights in the deepest, most satisfying human experience possible. Because:

• We were made to boast in God.
• We were made to give him credit for all good.
• We were made to rely on his power.
• We were made to magnify his glory and his all sufficiency in our weakness.

This is the source of all ultimate joy and satisfaction. Pride diverts our capacity for exultation from the galaxies of God’s glory to the gutters of our puny achievements. It is a decorated dead end street.

What Is Pride?

• It is boasting in self and not the Lord.
• It is taking credit ourselves for what God alone can do.
• It is relying on self and not God.
• It is feeling sufficiency in our own strength and not in God’s.
• It is the disinclination to admit that we are mere earthen vessels.

Therefore, God hates pride. And we should hate in ourselves what God hates in us, and wield the sword of the Spirit as best we can to slay this dragon in our souls.

1 Corinthians 1:31 (NIV)
Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 5:6-8 (NIV)
⁶ Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? ⁷ Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. ⁸ Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

2 Corinthians 12:6 (NIV)
Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth.

2 Corinthians 10:17 (ESV)
Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.

2 Corinthians 10:17-18 (NKJV)
¹⁷ But “he who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” ¹⁸ For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NLT)
²³ This is what the Lord says:
“Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom,
or the powerful boast in their power,
or the rich boast in their riches.
²⁴ But those who wish to boast
should boast in this alone:
that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord
who demonstrates unfailing love
and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth,
and that I delight in these things.
I, the Lord, have spoken!

Prayer: As His spirit pours out on me, and the light of His glory becomes apparent, I will walk in the path He sets before me. It’s not the abundance of grace that He pours out for me, but it’s the abundance of grace that He pours upon all. I shall not steal another’s grace. I shall not take the grace, but give the grace freely as it has been given. As God dwells within me, I have hope and I am transformed into the living faith. Glory to glory, in His mighty name. Amen

2 Corinthians 9:8 (NABRE)
Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work.

Isaiah 26:12 (NKJV)
Lord, You will establish peace for us,
For You have also done all our works in us.