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An arrogant and self righteous person can be inclined to
smugly think of themselves as important. They
believe they are righteous in and of themselves. They
tend to be sure of their own righteousness and will treat
others with contempt.
They exhibit pious self-assurance showing an exaggerated
awareness of their own virtuousness and righteousness.
They have a tendency of seeing the sins and faults of
others, and instead of hating the sin... they hate the sinners.
They can be very critical of others and believe
they are always right, better, smarter, or more important
than other people. They tend to drive people away by
putting others down, being intolerant of the opinions and
doings of others, and making others feel uncomfortable,
and spiritually inferior.
Their haughty sense of self importance overshadows their
ability to realize their own unchecked problems. They
reject correction and don't seem to comprehend any
variation of their own argument... let alone any overriding
counter argument of any sort. For this reason arrogance
can be described as a form of delusion.
Self righteous people want to look and sound righteous.
They want others to see and hear how righteous they are.
It has nothing to do with glorifying God.
They are more into the show... the outward appearance.
They parade their good works in order to garner approval
and praises of others. They want to be held in high regard,
seated in the best seats, and called by pompous titles while
totally disregarding their inner conversion. This is exactly
what the Scriptures remind us that the Pharisees did.
Jesus passionately rebuked the scribes and Pharisees, who
are the perfect example of self-righteousness, in
Matthew 23, six times, for rigidly sticking to their
legalistic traditions, publicly wearing their righteousness
outwardly, sounding the trumpets when they would give,
fast, etc. They would make a public display of their
righteousness to people in order to make themselves
look better to others (Matthew 6:16, 3:8, 6:2).
Self -pride harms only the proud. Arrogance due to
overbearing pride brings contempt for others.
An arrogant person is often rude and very fond of
offending others. They cannot take abuse, but can be
abusive and very condescending to others.
According to my research, this kind of arrogance is
sometimes used as a coping mechanism for people who
are secretly insecure. Their insecurity is disguised as
confidence, self-worth, or self-importance.
Definition of Arrogance:
Definition for
Self-righteousness
(also called sanctimoniousness, sententiousness,
and holier-than-thou attitudes):
A feeling or display of (usually smug) moral superiority
derived from a sense that one's beliefs, actions, or
affiliations are of greater virtue than those of the average
person.
Self righteousness literally means... self-right.
The self-righteous can have or show an exaggerated
opinion of their own importance, merit, ability, etc. They
can be conceited and overbearingly proud.
If we treat people we consider to be "sinners" with scorn,
or think we are better than they are,
we are guilty of the sin of self-righteousness.
Biblically speaking, self-righteousness is the idea that we
can somehow generate within ourselves a righteousness
that will be acceptable to God.
Jesus told a parable about certain people who
“Trusted in themselves that they were righteous
and viewed others with contempt”
(Luke 18).
Jesus referred to two men going up to the temple
to pray — the one a Pharisee, the other a tax-collector.
The Pharisee began by thanking God that he was not like
the sinners of society and then went on to reel off his own
noteworthy virtues.
The tax-collector stood at a distance with downcast eyes,
pleading for God’s mercy and identifying himself
as a sinner.
The conclusion?
The admitted sinner was accepted before God, and the
self-righteous Pharisee found no approval with God.
It was Isaiah who said that our righteous acts are like
filthy rags ( Isaiah 64:6 ). He was talking about self
righteousness (the things we do to try to make us right
with God).
Self righteousness can look great on the outside.
Some may look holy, but they solely trust in themselves to
be good enough for God. They are seeking God based
upon their righteousness and what they can accomplish for
God.
None can be righteous
on the basis of their own behavior.
According to Scripture, God must increase in importance,
while we must decrease in importance. Self-righteousness
leads to pride, our decrease... to humility.
God's righteousness and our
self-righteousness are
polar opposites.
We are the righteousness of God. What an incredible
blessing it is to submit to the righteousness of God. We do
not have to rely on what we do to please God. God is
pleased with us on the basis of our faith in Jesus. There is
nothing else we can do to add to it.
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