Friday, November 6, 2015

Week 7: Beware of Pride

I read a talk given by President Ezra Taft Benson of The Church of Jesus Christ of 
Latter-Day Saints on pride. He put’s the Lord’s law so bluntly that there is no argument. 
I had never thought of pride as such a broad topic but as I read his words on what pride 
really encompasses I was surprised but it all made sense. Pride really is when we put our will 
against God’s which can lead to other sin and problems in our life, including enmity toward 
others. When we are proud we have become more afraid of the world’s view and judgment
than God’s. Disobedience is a power struggle between God and us. When we are prideful we 
try to take power and glory for ourselves and put our desires before our needs and calling 
from God. It also has a huge negative effect on the family. Pride can make it’s way into the 
heart of homes and eventually tear a family apart. I loved that President Benson said “If we 
love God, so His will, and fear His judgment more than men’s, we will have self-esteem”. 
I’ve been struggling a lot lately on learning to love myself, who I am as a person and as a 
daughter of God and it is extremely hard. But when I read that it all made sense. I need to set 
aside my worries of what the world may think and just focus on what the Lord and God think. 
Pride can truly keep many from eternal salvation and living with God for eternity. It keeps 
people from the church and is a huge cause of inactivity. If people could just see themselves 
and everyone else how God see’s them, members and people in general would be so much 
more happy and less offended and defensive. But the antidote for pride is “meekness, 
submissiveness.. it is the broken heart and contrite spirit”. We can choose to be humble or 
be chastened and compelled to be humble.
President Benson said it perfectly that there is no righteous pride, all pride is sin. But overcoming 
pride can be extremely hard and that is when we have to turn to the Lord and rely on the 
atonement to help us overcome pride and humble ourselves. Having the self-control and 
self-discipline to take a step back and look at the situation and yourself is an amazing quality
Being able to humble ourselves and repent in our marriage is a huge lesson that is learned early
 on can effect our marriage for the better. It can strengthen the relationship and build an even 
stronger foundation on trust and honesty. It is a worry of mine too that I'll get tired of the 
person I marry but I know that as I stay focused on God and never give up on my marriage 
I can get through anything that comes my way. I know my future spouse and I will have ups 
and downs and through those rough patches we can lean on God to help us get through them. 
The repentance process is amazing. It brings so much joy, peace, and love into our life if we 
just apply it.

This is President Benson's address on Pride: "Beware of Pride"


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