The Sin of Arrogancy

"The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate." -Proverbs 8:13

The story goes that the admiral, looking out from his command post on the deck looked out and saw lights in the distance, clearly heading straight for him. He radioed the message ahead: “Turn aside, 10 degrees starboard.” The radio beeped back – “Negative. Advise you turn aside 10 degrees starboard.” Furious, the admiral radioed back: “No, you turn aside. I am an admiral, I am in command of a battleship.” The message was returned: “I am a private. And I am in charge of this lighthouse.” We live in a world that is all about puffing up one's self to show that we are worthy of something significant. In the illustration just described, the admiral may have had the upper hand over the private due to his military rank, but failing to realize the importance of the job of the private would likely have cost the admiral both the ship and his command. Our society teaches us that we should embrace our strengths and believe in ourselves. What is the result of that? Pride. What happens when pride roots in? Not only will we be displeasing God due to sin, but we will also be risking our relationships with others. We consider the word "hate" to be a very strong word in the English language. God uses that word here to describe His reaction to pride and arrogancy. May we do our best to stay humble! Pride may get us progress with the world, but humility will always make you closer to God!