PRIDE IS MY MY FAVORITE SIN TO TALK ABOUT. Is that weird? Probably. But I love talking about it because I think it is one of the most widely misunderstood sins!
Nephi quotes Isaiah in 2 Nephi Chapter 12 as he extensively narrates how pride will be the downfall of many.
“But I don’t think I’m better than other people. Trust me, I’m not prideful.”
Luckily, President Benson gave us one of the most iconic talks (“Beware of Pride”) filled with common but misunderstood examples of pride – all of which separate ourselves from God or from our fellow men.
- Pride from the bottom looking up: “Yeah, they are loaded. They’ll be fine.”
- Fault-finding: “Did you hear what the Bishop’s wife did?”
- Living beyond our means: “We need to buy this house so people will know we are successful.”
- Withholding praise that might lift another: “Yeah, she did great, but I’m sure she already knows and I don’t want HER to feel prideful.”
- Being jealous: “How does she always look so good? I’m not as put together.”
- Disobedience: “They shouldn’t be ‘above’ me so I’m not going to follow what they say.”
- Contention: “I am right, you are wrong, so I am better than you.”
- Dependence upon the world to tell them whether they have value or not: “I don’t believe I have intrinsic value, so I wait for other people’s judgments to build me up.”
- Personal Competition: “If you succeed, I fail.”
Whew. Some of those sting a little to read and think about.
Pride is referred to as the “universal sin” for a reason. I think we’ve all learned how to separate ourselves from God and others as a coping mechanism to avoid other uncomfortable feelings.
Sometimes, we are going to be disappointed. We are going to lose. We are going to see someone get something before we do. We will disagree with people.
And I think it’s a lifelong learning process to figure out how to go through life as a human without separating ourselves from the people around us and from God.
But it’s worth that constant refinement! It’s worth it to weed out each little manifestation of pride as soon as we recognize it, so that we can grow closer in love to our fellow men and closer to our all-loving at God.
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
