Lately I’ve been thinking about pride. It shows up in the very first sin. Before Adam, before Cain, before the flood, pride started it all.
The Bible says a covering cherub, placed in a holy position of trust, turned his heart away from God. Isaiah records the words he whispered to himself:
“I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God… I will be like the most High.”
— Isaiah 14:13–14 (KJV)
That line… I will…still echoes through the ages. Pride always wants to climb. It always wants more than what God gave.
Pride in Eden
The same pattern shows up in the garden. The serpent didn’t tempt Eve with a better snack. He tempted her with elevation: “Ye shall be as gods” (Genesis 3:5 KJV).
And that’s how it works. Pride convinces us that what God gave isn’t enough, and that we can take more if we reach. Adam and Eve reached, and the whole creation bent under the weight of that choice.
God’s Call Was Different
But from the very beginning, God gave us another path. He didn’t call us to pride. He called us to stewardship.
“And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”
— Genesis 2:15 (KJV)
To dress is to cultivate. To keep is to guard. Stewardship means we handle what belongs to God with faithfulness. The earth isn’t ours. Even our breath isn’t ours. It’s all His.
Psalm 24 says it clearly:
“The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.”
— Psalm 24:1 (KJV)
That’s the difference. Pride says: Mine.
Stewardship says: Thine.
The Example of Jesus
The clearest picture of stewardship is Jesus.
Paul writes that He “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7 KJV).
And then, in John 13, Jesus kneels down, takes a basin, and washes His disciples’ feet. Afterward He says:
“If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.”
— John 13:14 (KJV)
That is the sharpest contrast I know: Pride desires a crown. Stewardship washes feet.
At the cross, Jesus entrusted Himself fully to the Father’s will. He carried what was not His to redeem those who could not save themselves. Perfect stewardship, crowned with glory.
Pride or Stewardship in My Own Life
This isn’t just old history. It’s daily life.
I can feel pride whisper when I look at work I’ve done and want recognition. I can feel it when I want to control outcomes, or when I think I’ve earned what I have.
But then Scripture speaks again:
“Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”
— 1 Peter 5:5 (KJV)
Stewardship changes the perspective. What I have isn’t mine. My family, my ministry, my time, my gifts. They’re not mine. They’re entrusted. That makes every moment sacred.
Where It Ends
Revelation gives us the two endings. Babylon, full of luxury and pride, says: “I sit a queen, and shall see no sorrow.” But in a single hour, judgment falls (Revelation 18:7–8).
Then Revelation shows another city: the New Jerusalem. A river flows from the throne. The tree of life bears fruit. God’s servants see His face and serve Him forever (Revelation 22:3–5).
Pride ends in judgment. Stewardship ends in eternal service and eternal joy.
Final Thought
This is the war behind so much of life. Pride pulls one way. Stewardship pulls another.
Every crown seized will fall. Every act of stewardship will endure.
The question I’ve been asking myself lately is simple:
Which one is shaping my choices today?