DEVOTION – DAY 139

Proverbs 16:18 “Pride Leads To A Fall”

 

Prov.16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”

 

There is much wisdom in the book of Proverbs in the Bible. Of its many wise teachings, the verse selected above is a warning about pride. Pride is a problem that many people have. It is so easy for anyone to think that he or she is better than other people. It is easy to think that we know better than other people. It is so easy for us to tell other people what to do because we think we know better than them. It is much harder for us to listen to other people telling us what to do. Isn’t that true. This is the result of pride in us -thinking we are better than other people. But the Bible warns us here that pride can destroy us. Pride can also bring about our fall because pride makes us blind to our own faults. Pride causes us to trust on our own strength and not on God’s strength.

We see the truth of this proverb in recent news on 10 April 2021. It was reported that the State Administration of Market Regulation of China (SAMR) fined the Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd a record fine of RMB18 billion or US$2.75b for abusing its market dominant position. No company in China had ever been fined such a huge amount before. This was on top of the authorities suspending a planned public listing of the Ant Financial Group, an offshoot of Alibaba Group Holdings. That suspension had dampened what was expected to have one of the largest IPOs in recent years and would have made Alibaba’s founder, Jack Ma even richer than he already is.

It is widely thought that the reason why the SAMR came down hard on Alibaba Group was because the authorities were unhappy with its founder, Jack Ma. Jack Ma was successful building up the Alibaba group. Because he was articulate, he was sought after as a speaker in Western forums who saw him as an enlightened businessman. He received much praise and he allowed the success and recognition to get to his head. He allowed his pride to get to him. He thought his high profile would give him the right and the power to bring about change. He wanted the Chinese authorities to further relax supervision. So, in 2020, he publicly criticized the Chinese regulatory authorities in a public forum. This incurred the wrath of the authorities. Instead of relaxing its supervision, the authorities placed Jack’s companies under greater scrutiny to see if they had violated anti-monopoly regulations. Jack learnt that his pride had caused the companies he led, to pay a heavy price. Alibaba Group now has to pay the RMB18billion fine. The expected valuation of Ant Financials when it does get listed will be a lot less because of new controls in place. Jack had to learn the hard way that pride does lead to destruction and fall. Jack is now wisely keeping a very low profile.

Let us pray: Dear Father, thank you for teaching us the value of humility. Please help us to be careful never to be proud, thinking we are better than others. In the name of our Lord Jesus we pray. Amen.

 

Questions

  1. How does pride affect a person in the way he or she treats and interacts with others? Discuss.
  2. How does the verse in this devotion warn you about the dangers of pride?
  3. What Bible characters do you know were examples of people who allow pride to lead them to destruction? Share.
  4. How can you safeguard yourself from the sin of pride? Discuss.