Pride – A Reflection

Joshua 11:18-20 (NIV)

18 Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long time. 19 Except for the Hivites living in Gibeon, not one city made a treaty of peace with the Israelites, who took them all in battle. 20 For it was the Lord himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

God forbid that God is adamant in destroying us and gives us a hardened heart. But, sometimes, it’s important to realise that when it looks like someone is just hard towards you; they’re unyielding and unwilling to listen to reason, it may because God is setting you up to have victory over them. There have been many instances in the Bible where this has happened (cue Saul and David, Joseph and Potiphar + his brothers; cue Jesus and the cross – should the Devil had known, he would not have crucified Jesus).

Pride comes before a downfall, and one of the symptoms of pride is a hardened heart. May God enable us to have a pure heart before Him, examine our hearts and keep us from pride. May God’s word always act as a mirror for us, and may we see where we’re going wrong through it, and course correct.

Amen.