Pride and humility are opposites that are important to understand. James tells us, “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” (ch 4:6)
Pride is one of the three major classifications of sin. It is the cause of other sins. Prov. 13:10 says, “Only by pride cometh contention . . .” Other scriptures also show that pride causes other sins. “In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride . . .” (Prov. 14:3) “The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor . . .” (Ps. 10:2) “The wicked through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God . . .” (Ps. 10:4) Thus we see that the reason the proud will be consumed at the Judgement Day is because pride is a root cause of other sins.
In Phil. 2:7-8 RSV we read that Jesus, “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form he humbled himself . . .” In this verse we see that humbling oneself is emptying oneself of self. Brethren are often referred to as vessels. When our vessel is full of self, there is no room for God in our vessel. This is why pride causes other sins, it keeps God out of our vessels.
Job was a man whom God helped to be humble. An example of Job’s pride is ch 31 in which Job spends an entire chapter justifying himself. God helped Job become humble by giving him a lot of bitter circumstances. Elsewhere in the Bible we can also see that tribulation is the medicine for pride. The word “contrite” in Hebrew means to beat, or bruise. An example of this is metal, which is beaten so it can be molded into its proper shape.
Pride and humility are opposites. Pride is a human vessel full of self; humility is a human vessel full of God. The proud need not dispair, for God will work in their life through tribulation to make the vessel full of pride become the vessel full of God.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One