Lucifer loved himself more than God. He said, “I will ascend…I will exalt my throne…I will sit on the mount…I will be like the Most High.” Compulsive self-love is an imitation of the Prince of Darkness. It creates confusion and chaos. It needs humility to cast down its pride. It needs confession and self-denial. The only way to keep out an inordinate desire for self-exaltation is to love God with our whole being and other people like we love ourselves.
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit. Those who see you will gaze at you, And consider you, saying: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms’” Isaiah 14:12-16 (NKJV)
