Is All Pride Sinful? A Biblical Perspective

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Today's podcast question is a really interesting one:

"The Bible tells us to be humble and not prideful, but pride has become so accepted and normalized in our culture. If pride is bad, does that mean all examples of it are bad? My kids now cringe when they hear the word pride, often out of love for others. Did I do something wrong in shaming the term pride?"

This is an important topic for us to think through. Biblically, pride is often used to describe a deep, sinful attitude of the heart. Yet, in our culture, the word pride is used in so many different ways. So today, we’re going to take a deep dive into what the Bible says about pride, how the term is used in different contexts, and whether there are ever good examples of pride.

As always on the Foundation Worldview Podcast, our goal is to equip you with a framework for thinking biblically so that you can train the children in your care to carefully evaluate every idea they encounter. Rather than simply giving an answer, I want to help you develop a process for finding biblical truth so that you won’t need to ask, “What would Elizabeth say about this?” Instead, you’ll be equipped to think through these issues biblically on your own.

I often joke that this is a terrible business model but a great discipleship model. And that’s exactly what we aim to do in our Foundation Worldview curriculums—teach children how to think biblically so that they no longer need us to walk them through that particular subject.

With that in mind, today we’re going to look at two key questions we should ask anytime we want to think biblically about a term:

1. What is the biblical understanding of this term?
2. How is this term being used in this particular situation?

Let’s walk through these two questions as we consider the word "pride."

What Is the Biblical Understanding of Pride?

If we were to do an exhaustive study of pride in Scripture, this podcast would be six—or maybe twelve—hours long. Instead, I’ve chosen four key passages that give us a well-rounded biblical understanding of pride.

The first passage is a longer one, from 2 Chronicles 26:16-21, which describes the life of King Uzziah, a king of Judah. For much of his reign, Uzziah honored the Lord, but then we read this:

"But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. But Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor, and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, 'It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord.'

Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense. And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the Lord had struck him.

And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. And Jotham his son was over the king’s household, governing the people of the land."

This passage shows us that Uzziah’s pride led him to take on a role God had not given him. He was a king, but that wasn’t enough—he wanted to act as a priest as well. His pride put him in a position he was never meant to hold, and as a result, he was struck with leprosy and separated from the people for the rest of his life.

The second passage is Psalm 10:2-4, which describes the attitude of the wicked:

"For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord. In the pride of his face, the wicked does not seek Him; all his thoughts are, 'There is no God.'"

This passage shows that pride leads people to reject God, thinking they can determine right and wrong for themselves.

Next, Isaiah 2:11-12 says:

"The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low."

Here we see that God actively opposes the proud and will ultimately humble them.

Finally, 1 John 2:15-16 warns:

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world."

From these four passages, we see that biblically, pride is thinking of ourselves in a way that only God deserves to be thought of. It is putting ourselves in God’s place, whether by comparing ourselves to others, believing we are responsible for our own success, or seeking glory for our own accomplishments.

All sin is ultimately rooted in pride, because sin is, at its core, rejecting God’s authority and deciding for ourselves what is right and wrong.

How Is This Term Being Used in a Particular Situation?

Now that we understand the biblical definition of pride, we can ask: Is the term being used in this way in a particular situation?

Sometimes, yes. Many uses of the word "pride" today do reflect the kind of sinful pride that Scripture warns against. However, other times, the term is used differently.

For example, we often use "pride" to describe the proper bestowing of honor. If you say to your child, "I’m so proud of you," you are not necessarily placing them in God’s position. Rather, you are expressing that you are pleased with their actions.

Scripture itself sometimes uses the word this way. Psalm 47:4 says:

"He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob, whom he loves."

Here, "pride" is used to describe the honor God has given His people. The Hebrew word for sinful pride (gaon) is different from the word used in this verse (gava), showing that not all uses of the term refer to sinful pride.

Of course, even when we use "pride" in a positive way, we need to examine our hearts. If we take pride in our children’s accomplishments because it makes us look good, that would be sinful. But if we are simply acknowledging their efforts and bestowing honor appropriately, that is not sinful pride.

Conclusion

So, what have we learned?

1. Biblically, pride is thinking of ourselves in a way that only God deserves to be thought of. It is always sinful.
2. The word "pride" is not always used in a sinful way. Sometimes, it is used to bestow honor appropriately.

These two questions—what is the biblical understanding of a term, and how is it being used in a particular situation—are incredibly helpful tools. Teaching our children to ask and answer these questions will equip them to navigate cultural language with biblical discernment.

If you have a question you’d like me to answer on a future episode, you can submit it at foundationworldview.com/podcast. And if this episode was helpful, I’d love for you to take a few seconds to rate and review the podcast.

As always, my prayer is that no matter what situation you and the children in your care face, you would trust that God is using all things to conform you more into the image of His Son.

See you next time!