Slaying Our Giants-Day Two. The Giant of PRIDE.

Scripture Readings:

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

Pride goes before destruction; a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18

Also read Isaiah 13:11.

In the Sunday night women’s Bible study, “Living in Love with Jesus,” we have been looking at some of the things that get in the way of our walk with the Lord. One of the giants that presents a major stumbling block is Pride. Here are two examples of the Giant of Pride from our study.

Christian recording artist/author Kathy Troccoli, one of the leaders of this video-assisted study, said that one day she was sitting in her friend’s living room in October and was absolutely mesmerized by the colors of the leaves on the trees that gorgeous autumn day. Bold yellows and reds and oranges – just blazingly beautiful. She did some research on how leaves turn colors, and she learned (and maybe we all learned this in high school but I sure forgot it) – that it’s the chlorophyll in the leaves that makes them so green in the summer. When the chlorophyll dies in the fall, the beautiful colors of red and yellow and orange in the leaves can now be seen. They were there all along; they were just overshadowed by the green. Only when the green in the leaves dies can all the beautiful colors of the leaves come out of hiding.
That’s the way it is with the Giant of Pride – we have to bludgeon that nasty giant so that the true beauty of Christ that is in us can be seen. Pride simply has to die before Christ can shine in us.

The second example is in the Biblical story of Esther. A real-life embodiment of Pride is found in Haman, King Xerxes’ right-hand man. Haman the Prideful Giant is defeated by his nemesis, Humility, seen in the person of Queen Esther. Do you know the story? King Xerxes has been hosting a six-month-long party and tries to coax his wife, Queen Vashti, out of hiding so that he can parade her around in front of his court. Vashti refuses and is sent away. A contest to choose the next queen is arranged, and the Jewish Esther wins. She hides her ancestry from the king on the advice of her wise cousin Mordecai. The Jewish-hating Haman gets the job of second-in-command, much to the dismay of Mordecai, who refuses to bow down to the prideful Haman. Haman is incensed at this lack of respect, and concocts a plot whereby he convinces the king to execute all Jews. Esther must reveal her true identity to the king if she is to have any chance at saving her people. She does so, risking her life in the process, and in the end Haman is the one executed, while the Jewish people earn the right to defend themselves against the Persians.

So, Haman’s Pride is a one-hued giant that tries to dominate but falls, as Esther’s humility shines through in this dramatic story of a near-Holocaust. Esther is like all the beautiful colors of the rainbow that come out after the storm, when the prideful Haman is destroyed.

Prayer: Dear Lord, You are so beautiful. Only You in us can make us beautiful from the inside out. Help us, Lord, to dress ourselves in Your colors. Help us to wear the garments of holiness, of righteousness, of love, of kindness, of humility. Thank you for being with us as we disable the powers of the prideful giant in our hearts.

Slay that Giant: In worship services we have been singing a great song about being clothed in beauty on the inside. It is titled, appropriately, “Inside Out”. Consider these lyrics as you seek the Lord’s help in making you beautiful from the inside out.