Pride Makes The Strong Weak

Pride makes the Strong Weak.

Judges 15:15ff

***We have been looking at the life of Bible Hero Samson. He is known to be physically strong, no one stronger, but morally and spiritually weak. We saw how Lust ( I want it), Entitlement ( I gotta have it), Pride (I can handle it) and Emotions (Anger) have brought him nothing but trouble. Today we will look at Pride again but from another angle, his pride (No one better/stronger/faster), the 6 million dollar man syndrome, will lead him further downward.

He was filled with pride. Still dealing with his anger, he goes out and because of the strength that God has given him, what does he do? In verse 15, here's what he does, and this is all because of God's strength:

***Judges 15:15

Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.

This is off the charts, I heard one describe this as UFC on steroids with GOD. That is powerful, yet look who Samson gives the credit of this magnificent feat…

***JDG 15:16 Then Samson said, "With a donkey's jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey's jawbone I have killed a thousand men."

This is like the kid who comes home with a report card,

The teacher gave me a C or the teacher gave me a D, but when it is a B or an A, they say I GOT AN “A”

Pride takes credit where credit is not due… and does not give credit where it is due. I have heard acceptance speeches for many events, how many give the credit to God or thank God for the ability God has given us to accomplish what has been accomplished?

What Samson is saying “I HAVE MADE AN ASS OUT OF THEM!”

Publicly he is boasting of his accomplishment…publicly he is saying

1. Look how strong I am

2. Look how skillfully I fight

3. Have I impressed you enough yet?

He wears his victory like a gunslinger, with notches on his belt or feathers in his cap.

Pride is always born out of our insecurities. When we don't know who we are in Christ, pride is the first emotion that will rise up to take us down. Scripture says that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Scripture says that pride comes before a fall. But for so many of us men, it's "Hey, look at me! Didn't I do good? Don't I have worth based on what I've accomplished?"

***Proverbs 8:13 says:

PR 8:13 To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.

****Proverbs 6:16-19

PR 6:16 There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, 19 a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

Samson is swiftly falling into a deep hole.

Some of us sitting here this morning are in that hole, my advice, to myself and others is

STOP DIGGING.

Some of us are so full of pride that won't ask for directions on how to change or to tell anyone else they're in need because they're too full of pride. Why is it that that's such a problem for us? It's because most us want to be the main character in the story. We want it to be about us, we want to win. When we win we're proud, when we don't win we're angry because we want to be in control, we want to be the main character in the story. But people, we are never the main character of the story. God is always the main character in the story! And when we understand that God is the main character in the story, then we won't be tempted to be driven by our emotions, but we want to be led by the Spirit. So I say live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of your fleshly nature, because your fleshly nature is in conflict with the Spirit and the Spirit is in conflict with the fleshly nature, so you do not do what you want. If you are continually driven by emotions, you will end up just like Samson, a man with divine potential who continues to self-destruct, but if instead you will put your emotions on the altar of God and sacrifice them and say, "Yes, I may feel them, but I won't be driven by them. I want to be led by the Spirit!" Then God becomes the main character in your story and suddenly you're not living for the approval of other people, pride; but you're living from the approval of God and that changes everything. All of a sudden, you can be who God created you to be.