In Proverbs, chapter sixteen, verse five, “Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.” God opposes the proud and states clearly in both the Old Testament and the New Testament that God hates pride and resists it. Pride causes God to turn from our prayers and withhold His grace. To be exalted in our minds or to seek the honor and esteem of others to satisfy our pride is to shut out the help of God. But for those who humbly submit to God and draw near to Him, He gives abundant grace, mercy, and help in every situation in life.
For those who set goals and succeed in meeting them, the temptation is to boast. Boasting is a false assumption that whatever we accomplished, we did it as a result of our initiative and abilities, ignoring the role of God and others in our success. The New Testament exhorts us to boast in our weaknesses and our dependence on God.
The seriousness of God with the proud begins in Psalms twelve, verse three, “The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things.” Proverbs six, verses sixteen through nineteen, mentions several things the Lord hates, beginning with “a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” The “proud look” being the first overall that God hates above the other six things tells us of how severe the Lord takes this proud look seriously. “Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments,” Psalm one hundred and nineteen, verse twenty-one.