The Danger of Self-Sufficiency

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.” (Proverbs 16:18-19 ESV)

Our exposition of the Book of Proverbs continues with the second half of Chapter 16. At the heart of this section lies a familiar phrase: “Pride goes before destruction” (verse 18). We will focus our attention on the destructive nature of pride.

While the text addresses more than pride, we can be sure that pride, or self-righteousness, or self-sufficiency, is the root of folly. The “worthless man” (v27), the “dishonest man” (v28), and the “man of violence” all find the cause of their pet sins in the love of self (v29).