Week 8: Beware of Pride!

Here are some of the quoted from President Benson’s talk “Beware of Pride” (Ensign, May 1989, 4-7) that made me think about myself and my own prideful ways.

“Pride is essentially competitive in nature. We pit our will against God’s. When we direct our pride toward God, it is in the spirit of “my will and not thine be done.” As Paul said, they “seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.” (Philip. 2:21.)”

“Our will in competition to God’s will allows desires, appetites, and passions to go unbridled. (See Alma 38:12; 3 Ne. 12:30.)”

“In the words of C. S. Lewis: “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. … It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone.” (Mere Christianity, New York: Macmillan, 1952, pp. 109–10.)”

“The proud depend upon the world to tell them whether they have value or not…If we love God, do His will, and fear His judgment more than men’s, we will have self-esteem.”

“Pride is a damning sin in the true sense of that word. It limits or stops progression. (See Alma 12:10–11.) The proud are not easily taught. (See 1 Ne. 15:3, 7–11.) They won’t change their minds to accept truths, because to do so implies they have been wrong.”

“God will have a humble people. Either we can choose to be humble or we can be compelled to be humble. Alma said, “Blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble.” (Alma 32:16.) Let us choose to be humble.”

Something that kept coming up repeatedly was the word “competitive” or variation of that word. I tend to be very competitive. I do look at others and put myself up against them in comparison. I can see that I need to let go of this trait, and strive for humility. In reality, the only person I should be comparing myself to is myself. I can see where my competitiveness, especially the need to be right, is detrimental to my relationship with my family. The question is, how do I do that? What steps do I need to make to turn that pride to humility?

One other thing I want to share is something a classmate put in her Discussion Board post. I want include it so I can have it after the class is over. It really stood out to me. She said:

Most of us have heard of the triangle of marriage, God being at the top angle, and the spouses at the bottom two angles. President Benson's talk and Gottman's principle: "Let Your Partner Influence You," together explain beautifully why this is such an important principle. When we turn toward God and our partner we draw closer together and closer to God. While, turning away from our partner is also in essence turning away from God. (Kami Kerby)

I think the reason this left such a great impression on me was that it reminded me that my covenant marriage is as much with the Lord as it is with my husband. If I can simply keep this in mind, it will help me lose my competitive nature. We are all on the same side, with the same goal. I need to remember that my husband, as well as my Heavenly Father, wants the best for me. I can let go of my pride, and still win. As a matter of fact, if I can't let go of my pride, I won't have any part in winning. I will lose out completely in the most important thing in my life.