Apr
15
In keeping with my spiritual theme for writing on Sunday . . . I had the opportunity today to speak in our Sacrament service. I say “opportunity” because it truly was. Public speaking is the number one fear of people in general. Growing up in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) I’ve had the opportunity to speak in front of audiences of varying sizes since I was four years old. Through no doing of my own, the fear of speaking in front of an audience isn’t something I have to deal with. Therefore, I was able to concentrate more fully on the topic for which I was preparing. How grateful I am. A couple weeks ago, while I was listening to General Conference, I had a thought enter my mind as to the topic I should address. In short . . . it was pride. My main resource for the talk I gave was a talk given by President Ezra Taft Benson in 1989 titled Beware of Pride. Another talk I used as source material for my talk was given in 1992 by Elder Dallin H. Oaks titled Our Strengths Can Become Our Downfall.
While reading these talks and the scriptures, I was humbled. There are so many things I need to eliminate from my life. When preparing a talk or lesson, I always feel an unfair advantage. I always get more out of the preparation than anyone in the audience will ever gain from my presentation of the topic. Pride has truly become a device of destruction in our world. Lives, marriages, communities, and nations have fallen to the destructive force of pride. I’m going to share a few of my favorite points from Beware of Pride:
Fear of men’s judgment manifests itself in competition for men’s approval. The proud love “the praise of men more than the praise of God.” Our motives for the things we do are where the sin is manifest. Jesus said He did “always those things” that pleased God. Would we not do well to have the pleasing of God as our motive rather than to try to elevate ourselves above our brother and outdo another?
This is so evident in the world around us. Co-workers going to any length in order to “look good” to their superiors. Honesty, sincerity, and integrity are replaced by a cutthroat desire to climb the ladder at any cost. Worrying about what the crowd will think if a decision made is “against the grain” leads to a loss of what truly makes us great!
Another point I loved from Beware of Pride was:
Another face of pride is contention. Arguments, fights, unrighteous dominion, generation gaps, divorces, spouse abuse, riots, and disturbances all fall into this category of pride.
Contention in our families drives the Spirit of the Lord away. It also drives many of our family members away. Contention ranges from a hostile spoken word to worldwide conflicts. The scriptures tell us that “only by pride cometh contention.†(Prov. 13:10; see also Prov. 28:25.)
This pretty much sums it up. There’s not much more I can add to that. In preparing my talk, I’ve become more resolved to eliminate the awful faces of pride from my life. I’ve experienced times in my life where I don’t think pride was prevalent and I’ve experienced times in my life where pride ruled . . . I prefer the former. We live in an incredible world . . . beautiful beyond description . . . how much greater could it be . . . without pride?
I’m going to close this entry with a scripture from the Book of Mormon. It is found in Alma 7:23:
. . . now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.
What more can I say?
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