Pride is the original sin, the one that turned Lucifer from angel to devil, and it remains the root of countless other sins today.
C.S. Lewis called pride “the great sin” and wrote that
“pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.”
While culture celebrates self-promotion, personal branding, and the relentless pursuit of recognition, Scripture warns that pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Pride whispers that you’re self-sufficient, that you deserve credit for your accomplishments, and that you’re better than others who haven’t achieved what you have.
The insidious thing about pride is that it’s often invisible to the person who has it. You can easily spot it in others while being blind to it in yourself. Pride masquerades as confidence, self-respect, or justified anger when someone doesn’t give you the recognition you deserve.
It shows up in defensiveness when corrected, in the need to be right, in comparing yourself favorably to others, and in the inability to celebrate others’ success without feeling diminished. Pride is fundamentally about self-worship, making yourself rather than God the center of everything.
These verses reveal that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, that pride inevitably leads to downfall, and that humility is the pathway to genuine honor and wisdom.
Bible Verses About Pride
1. Proverbs 16:18 – Pride Goes Before Destruction
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
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2. James 4:6 – God Opposes the Proud
But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
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3. Proverbs 11:2 – When Pride Comes, Then Comes Disgrace
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
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4. 1 Peter 5:5 – God Opposes the Proud but Shows Favor to the Humble
In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
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5. Proverbs 8:13 – I Hate Pride and Arrogance
To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.
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6. Proverbs 29:23 – Pride Brings a Person Low
Pride brings a person low, but the lowly in spirit gain honor.
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7. Proverbs 13:10 – Where There Is Strife, There Is Pride
Where there is strife, there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.
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8. Isaiah 14:12-15 – How You Have Fallen From Heaven
How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.
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9. Proverbs 16:5 – The Lord Detests All the Proud of Heart
The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.
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10. Daniel 4:37 – Those Who Walk in Pride He Is Able to Humble
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.
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11. Proverbs 27:2 – Let Someone Else Praise You
Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips.
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12. 1 John 2:16 – The Pride of Life
For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.
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13. Proverbs 21:4 – Haughty Eyes and a Proud Heart
Haughty eyes and a proud heart—the unplowed field of the wicked—produce sin.
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14. Obadiah 1:3 – The Pride of Your Heart Has Deceived You
The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
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15. Psalm 10:4 – In His Pride the Wicked Man Does Not Seek Him
In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
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16. Mark 7:22 – From Within, Out of Men’s Hearts, Come Pride
Greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.
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17. Proverbs 6:16-17 – Seven Things the Lord Hates
There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood.
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18. Jeremiah 9:23-24 – Let Not the Wise Boast of Their Wisdom
This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.
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19. Romans 12:3 – Do Not Think of Yourself More Highly
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
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20. Galatians 6:3 – If Anyone Thinks They Are Something When They Are Not
If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves.
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21. 2 Chronicles 26:16 – But After Uzziah Became Powerful, His Pride Led to His Downfall
But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.
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22. Proverbs 15:25 – The Lord Tears Down the House of the Proud
The Lord tears down the house of the proud, but he sets the widow’s boundary stones in place.
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23. Isaiah 2:11-12 – The Eyes of the Arrogant Will Be Humbled
The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled and human pride brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. The Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled).
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24. 1 Corinthians 8:1 – Knowledge Puffs Up While Love Builds Up
Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up.
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25. Proverbs 26:12 – Do You See a Person Wise in Their Own Eyes?
Do you see a person wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for them.
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26. Psalm 101:5 – Whoever Has Haughty Eyes and a Proud Heart, I Will Not Tolerate
Whoever slanders their neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not tolerate.
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27. Proverbs 18:12 – Before a Downfall the Heart Is Haughty
Before a downfall the heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.
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28. 2 Timothy 3:2 – People Will Be Lovers of Themselves
People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy.
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29. Luke 18:14 – Everyone Who Exalts Himself Will Be Humbled
I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
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30. Proverbs 3:7 – Do Not Be Wise in Your Own Eyes
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.
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31. Romans 12:16 – Do Not Be Proud, but Be Willing to Associate
Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
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32. Philippians 2:3 – Do Nothing Out of Selfish Ambition or Vain Conceit
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.
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33. 1 Corinthians 1:31 – Let the One Who Boasts Boast in the Lord
Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
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34. Proverbs 25:27 – It Is Not Good to Eat Too Much Honey, Nor to Seek One’s Own Honor
It is not good to eat too much honey, nor is it honorable to search out matters that are too deep.
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35. Ezekiel 28:17 – Your Heart Became Proud
Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.
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Our Thoughts On What the Bible Says About Pride
Pride is fundamentally about making yourself the center instead of God. It’s the belief that you’re self-made, that your accomplishments are primarily yours, and that you deserve the credit and recognition.
Pride forgets that every breath, talent, opportunity, and success ultimately comes from God. James asks, “What do you have that you did not receive?” Pride pretends you generated everything yourself. Humility recognizes you’re a steward of gifts God provided, and any success is ultimately His doing through you.
The consistent biblical pattern is that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. That’s terrifying because it means when you’re operating in pride, you’re working against God’s active opposition rather than with His enabling grace.
Pride puts you in a position where God Himself resists what you’re trying to accomplish. Conversely, humility positions you to receive grace, favor, and blessing. The pathway to genuine honor is humility, not self-promotion. Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, but those who humble themselves will be exalted.
Pride is also the source of conflict. Proverbs says Where there is strife, there is pride. Most arguments, church splits, broken relationships, and ongoing feuds trace back to pride. You’re offended because your ego got bruised. You won’t forgive because admitting you were partly wrong feels like losing.
You can’t celebrate others’ success because it makes you feel inferior. Pride destroys relationships because it makes everything about you. Humility heals relationships because it prioritizes others and values unity over being right.
Say This Prayer
Heavenly Father, I confess that pride is far more present in my heart than I want to admit. I see it in others easily, but struggle to recognize it in myself. Forgive me for the times I’ve made myself the center, taken credit for what You’ve done, and believed I’m self-sufficient instead of completely dependent on You.
Break the power of pride in my life. Help me to recognize it in all its forms: defensiveness, the need to be right, comparing myself favorably to others, inability to celebrate others’ success, and resistance to correction. Give me humility to admit when I’m wrong, to receive instruction, and to value others above myself.
Remind me that everything I have and everything I’ve accomplished ultimately comes from You. Help me to boast only in You, to seek Your approval rather than human recognition, and to make You the center of my life rather than myself. Keep me from the pride that brings destruction and the haughty spirit that precedes a fall.
Clothe me with humility. Help me not to think of myself more highly than I ought, to be willing to associate with people of low position, and to do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Let me walk in the humility that receives Your grace and favor.
In Jesus’ humble Name, Amen.