"All Flesh is as Grass"

" For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. 
The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away ": 1 Peter 1:24.
God gives Man the power to get wealth  Psalms 62 :11; and "good success". Joshua 1:8.

"Success" means prosperity , victory , triumph, achievement, fame , and eminence . 
It is the will of God that men should succeed and prosper by righteous means, in all their undertakings  on earth .

Pride is self- esteem, self-worth  or ego , self-respect ; it is the pleasure  and  satisfaction derived from personal qualities , achievements or possessions. 

People could be proud of their good fortune, educational and career success, of their exceptionally good looks, well-to-do families  and friends and proud of a host of other blessings;  which  the human beings would desire to possess. 
Taking pride in one's appearance and taking pride in one's duties and responsibilities  are the qualities of  emotionally sound persons.
Pride in oneself is positive assertion. This is Pride as in refusing to accept fear , intimidation, defeat and failure. Positive self-pride is rejecting rudeness , aggression , disrespect,  cheating , "put-downs", evil influences and manipulations from any body. 

It is proper to exhibit self-esteem or self-pride when presenting  one's achievements and assets , when necessary; like during  job interviews. 
 If you've got it, flaunt it. Sometimes , if you do not blow your own trumpet , nobody would  blow it for you..

The other side of the coin are the unpleasant  forms of pride which are egotism , self-conceit , arrogance, vanity , obstinacy ,  big-headedness ; to mention just a few .
Human beings could forget that it is God who exalts and upholds  a man and that God rules and reigns in the affairs of men. 

 When a  person 's mind is full of pride, he  would  give  the credit  for his success , not  to God , but to  his own  strength  and talents .

Also, pride would make successful persons to begin to see themselves as "superior " to  persons who do not  posses their admirable  qualities and who have not attained their height of success. 
There are persons who do not have anything  worthwhile to show for their  arrogance , but they derive satisfaction from their own delusions.

Such deluded persons are full of fantasies about their own worth ; like  deluding themselves that  they are indispensable king-pins and without them , nothing would work , or that without their presence , life would be unpleasant for  people . 
Arrogance would make some husbands and wives disrespect their spouses, thinking they are doing their wives or husbands a huge favour  by remaining  married to them .  

Misplaced pride  says, "This is awesome ME! I am the best and THEY are all chasing after me!"
Awesome you who has achieved awesome what?

Pride causes delusion which makes some people think that they are " too hot and too desirable" and so everybody is  falling over themselves , to "seduce" them and win their love for  dating and marriage!

Acquisition of knowledge is essential because ignorance could be destructive. 
Pride has bred perversion of the benefits of knowledge, especially scientific knowledge ; whereby atheists  have  tried to hijack all scientific knowledge and "discoveries " and present them as "proof that there is no Creator up there!"

It is preposterous  to attempt to use things that have been created  to disprove the existence of the Creator.

" He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Psalm 2:4.

Scientific knowledge and scientific "discoveries"  or inventions are  useful  for  modern living .
Science is not anti - God , contrary  to what  some people  think .
Science , actually,  reveals to Man  the awesomeness
of the wisdom and power of God  the Creator of all things. 

Conducting  research and funding  research for the advancement of  Science  are not "wasteful ventures " because like the acquisition of any knowledge, scientific knpwledge actualises God's mandate  for man to have dominion over the Earth.

There is nothing new under the sun. Scientific discoveries  are not "new"  because  whatsoever  Man is discovering and  inventing today , they pre-date Mankind ; they were created by God and they have been in existence for  millions of years.
 In the past, latest scientific  and medical discoveries or inventions  were celebrated by the Scientific Society , with Thanksgiving Services in the Church. 
Today , all over the world , there are indeed thousands of renowned scientists  who are Bible-believing Christians.
Atheism, creature - worship  or  achievement-worship are the fruits of the sin of Pride which results in  rejection of God and His Word and rebellion against  God's authority.
"The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good." Psalms 14:1.

Instead of giving thanks to God for revealing Himself  and His creations to Mankind  through  science , which is knowledge  of Himself;  men and women  are thumping  their chests with  the self-delusion  of giving  themselves credit for "discovering  and inventing new  things ".
Romans 1: 21-22.

The Bible describes arrogance and  all forms of negative pride as  the evil which precedes a fall.  
The proud  are "like clouds and wind without rain ". Proverbs 25:14.

Just as Pride is the stumbling block  that is hindering  people from acknowledging the existence of God and preventing people from accepting the Gospel of Jesus Christ ; so also Spiritual Pride  perverts the Gospel of  God's Salvation by Grace.

The sin of Spiritual Pride can manifest  masked as appearances of " holiness and righteousness" in the lives of Believers . 
This is the sin of  pride , of lifting up personal efforts above
the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Hypocrisy and Legalism are fruits of Spiritual Arrogance which contend against the commandments of God  which  are based on the grace of God. Matthew 15 : 7- 9.

The commandments of men  are doctrines which  teach that a  person  would qualify  to meet God's  standards of holiness and righteousness  because of that  person's abilities to "do  more good deeds  than  evil deeds".

Pride has resulted in  derailment  of the Faith -walk and Faith -work of  some Believers.

Pride manifesting in Church leaders and  in church members is the main cause of strife, of unfruitfulness  and collapse in many church ministries.
"He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat". Proverbs 28:25.

There are religious groups who have set up their own  doctrines of "Holiness and Righteousness  and they would swear that " God told " them to enforce such doctrines  on their disciples. through stringent rules and regulations, with strong reprimands for their defaulting members.
 Some churches have members who have been brain-washed to actually believe that they are "superior " to Christians who attend other churches.

In such groups, one would find that people are trying very hard to please God by their own efforts of self-righteousness and appearances of holiness. 
One would hear of doctrines such as  human beings trying to attain to "spiritual heights" like " 99 steps  to holiness and sanctification" etc .
"I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;I will be like the most High "
Isaiah 14 :14.

Nowadays, it not unusual to see and hear of  all  manner of " Spiritual Police", which  groups of human beings have set up to enforce appearances of "Holiness and Sanctification" amongst  their members .

These man-made  "doctrines  of holiness" are  contrary to the  Word of  God which says :

" No flesh shall glory in my presence"

" All our righteousness are like filthy rags."

God resists the proud  and He adequately rewards the proud  doer. Psalm 31: 23.
The  path of  proud  persons would  be arduous because they are unable  to respect anyone  and they would not submit to God's authority, neither would they submit to any form of constituted authority  in the society.

 Therefore the proud person  would experience resistance , rejections and conflicts  in  his or her relationships , at work , at play and at home.

"Vanity , all is vanity !" Ecclesiastes 1: 2.

Pride , vanity and  haughtiness all  lead to a fall and to destruction.

All labour without God's  approval is profitless and will not endure.
Humble yourself before God and He will lift you up .

Accept that you  have sinned ; confess your sin of Pride and Rebellion against God your maker. Ask for forgiveness and cleansing , now.

Believe God's word that without faith it is impossible to please God and ask for grace  to bear the fruits of righteousness , based on Christ alone.