When you’re haughty, you have a big attitude and act like you’re better than other people. You are arrogant and full of pride. A haughty person acts superior and looks down on others. They are obnoxious, disdainful, overbearing, and prideful. Someone that has this spirit feels compelled to always be one up or better than others or never wrong.  If you say your score is 100, theirs will be 110 to show importance or superiority.  Some people with this spirit “knows” everything and will not let you dominate a conversation, but instead must show their superiority by knowing more about a subject than the person with the knowledge.  If they are not winning the conversation, they will pull out or walk away before total embarrassment.

A person with this spirit also has a lying spirit and a spirit of exaggeration.  It does not matter how outrageous, or small, their claim of knowledge is, they must lie or exaggerate to accomplish the purpose.  The spirit pushes them to the point of sounding ridiculous no matter how confusing or stupid it sounds. They really don’t see how others view them.

Haughty is a strongman that has many spirits other than the lying and exaggeration. One with a Haughty Spirit may be,

  • a perfectionist
  • judgmental
  • full of competition
  • stubborn
  • self-righteous
  • boastful
  • critical

One of the greatest strongholds of the Haughty spirit is self-deception; the one trapped by this spirit is unable to see himself as he really is. The Haughty spirit says, “it’s not me, it’s them”.   Pride is based on falsehoods and prevents us from seeing any wrong in ourselves.  This offensive spirit infects our character, our relationship with God and our relationship with others.  Proverbs tell us;

Pro 6:16-19  “There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.”

How does one deal with the host of this haughty spirit?  One may try to smile and ignore, but sometimes it is really challenging, especially when it is someone that you care about.  Calling the person out does not help because it only brings strife and animosity into the relationship. Discussing the problem does not always work because these spirits blind the person to the problem and he or she will not be willing to hear your concerns. Pray that the person is convicted of the offense and the Lord will open their eyes and ears. If the person has the Holy Spirit, he or she probably realizes that lying and exaggeration is a problem and may be open to concerns and suggestions.

There are two approaches to battling these spirits;

  • Pulling down the stronghold by acknowledging the problem and denying the spirits, or
  • Deliverance, which is acknowledging the strongholds and casting out the spirits

Deliverance is the best solution but may not be available.  Even if deliverance is done, that stronghold will try to come back and the pulling down of strongholds can become an ongoing task.