King Uzziah had been faithful, and God had blessed him.

But “when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction” (2 Chronicles 26:16).

The very blessings that came from relying on God eventually became a source of pride that pulled him away from God.

Our greatest spiritual moments, even miracles we’ve experienced, don’t guarantee we’ll stay with the Lord until the end.

That testimony you gained at girls camp?

That “big calling” you held?

That miracle that happened at your lowest point?

These good moments from our past can be beautiful spiritual memories.

But they can also lead to pride, separation, and dismissal.

So what’s your heart like today?

Are you still humble?

Still teachable?

Still willing to let Him lead?

Our past faithful moments can be great fuel to our testimonies, but, just as Uzziah learned, we’ve got to check constantly to make sure our blessings for the past haven’t separated our hearts from God now.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Success as a downfall first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Kids would ask me a question and I felt like I needed to know every answer. ⁣

I needed to be the knowledge authority in my classroom, right?!⁣

But the best and worst part of teaching sixth grade is that the kids would start to (respectfully, for the most part) call me out when I said something incorrect. ⁣

It took a few months, but I finally realized how ironically empowering it was to admit that I didn’t know something to my students. ⁣

“Mrs. Black, why did you say THAT part of the story is the climax? Wouldn’t it be THIS part instead?”⁣

I figured out that it felt SO much better (and by the way, MUCH more effective for teaching) to say:⁣

“Oh interesting! Why do you think that? I could totally be wrong!”⁣

The discussions that comments like this would spur were AMAZING. And tons of class members would start to chime in with their opinions, too. ⁣

Real learning would occur. ⁣

I loved it. ⁣

And I feel like right around this same time at the beginning of my teaching career was when I started to adopt this humility into my personal life, too. ⁣

Instead of thinking I had the right answer in my marriage, or in my church callings, or in other decisions that I had to make, it was so much more empowering to recognize that I COULD be wrong.⁣

Replacing pride with humility one little step at a time has brought nothing but peace to my life. ⁣

In a gospel context:⁣

“Humility enables us to have broken hearts when we sin or make mistakes and makes it possible for us to repent.” —Elder Steven E. Snow⁣

I have found that it’s actually so freeing to acknowledge that I’ve been wrong. ⁣

I’m not perfect at it at all. ⁣

There are some sins that I want to cling to, like an insecure middle school teacher who insists they know the right answer. ⁣

“How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me?” (Exodus 10:3)⁣

I hope I don’t take too long, though, to loosen my grip on those favorite sins, those rationales, those prideful tendencies. ⁣

Humility is much more freeing than pride.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post I have to be right! first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Immediately, I was bombarded with responses that all sounded very similar:

The girls needed to learn their self-worth and true identity.

The Lord invites us to look at the people around us and “Let thy love be for them as for thyself.” (D&C 112:11)

We need to love others, but we also need to take the time to love ourselves. ⁣

To trust that God loves us exactly as we are, which means we can, too. ⁣

To be empathetic and understanding to ourselves, and to others. ⁣

In my mind, it fits perfectly with the Lord’s earlier command to “be thou humble” in D&C 112:10. ⁣

I’ve learned that true humility is recognizing that ALL of us, every single one of us, including you, are perfectly loved by God. ⁣

No one is greater. No one is lesser. ⁣

And putting anyone on a different spot other than the equal line that we are all standing on, is pride. The opposite of humility.

Thinking that your bishop is more loved by God than you are because of his calling, is pride. ⁣

Thinking that you are more loved by God because you are a member of the restored Church of Jesus Christ than your neighbor down the street, is pride. ⁣

Thinking that you have failed God and that you are completely out of the reach of His love, is pride. ⁣

Thinking that it doesn’t matter whether or not you keep up on small spiritual habits because you can handle life without all of that, is pride. ⁣

Pride is believing anything other than the fact that we are all equally loved by God and that we are all His children. ⁣

And humility is getting everyone, including yourself, back on that same playing field. Recognizing that God loves all of His children equally. ⁣

Let your love for others be the same as the love for yourself. ⁣

And whether that means you need to work on realizing your exact relationship with God a little better, or recognizing other people’s relationship with God better, or maybe a little bit of both…⁣

Then you are following the counsel to be thou humble.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post A different view of pride first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Listen to your first thought or prompting, and act on it right away. ⁣

I have been working on that as much as I can these past few weeks, and some days are better than others, but I’ve had some pretty cool experiences. ⁣

It was exactly the advice that I needed to gain a little more clarity in my life, and invite even more spiritual promptings to come. ⁣

“What lack I yet” is a question I ask pretty often in prayer, and it’s a principle I even use to guide my scripture study and look for personal applications. ⁣

The reason I love asking this question so much is because it keeps me focused on improvement. ⁣

I’ve found that the Spirit is always eager to bring my attention to one area I can focus on in particular. ⁣

Instead of being overwhelmed by everything that I lack, I can be shown what one thing would get me started in the right direction. ⁣

When I was reading about the Lord’s comments about Sidney Rigdon this week, I was really intrigued by this connection:⁣

“I, the Lord, am not pleased with my servant Sidney Rigdon; he exalted himself in his heart, and received not counsel”. D&C 63:55⁣

Sidney was exalting himself in his heart, which is definitely a problem. ⁣

But what an interesting side effect, right?!⁣

Because of this pride, he didn’t receive counsel!⁣

He wasn’t asking “what lack I yet?”— he was thinking something like, “I’ve got it all figured out. I’m good enough.”⁣

Pride is so sneaky. ⁣

The adversary wants us to stay as we are, and reject any advice that’s given to us, whether through prayer or through other kind loved ones. ⁣

And yet our Savior invites us to change. His atoning sacrifice is the reason we CAN change. ⁣

But we don’t have to tackle this impossible task of “becoming Christlike” all on our own. ⁣

The Spirit can whisper to us exactly what the next step is.

Being so gentle and kind in giving us just what we can handle next.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post “What lack I yet?” first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I had so many things on my to-do list, and after a tough day with my kids…

I just honestly didn’t want to be there.

There was a service activity set up on the tables that required us to sew.

(Something that I am not good at.)

I glanced over at the dessert table in the corner and noticed it was filled with cheesecake.

(My least favorite dessert.)

Pride is one of the sneakiest sins because it’s tricky to notice.

I wish I could tell you I had a change of heart at that service activity…

But I didn’t.

It wasn’t until I was reflecting later that I realized most of my bad attitude stemmed from me thinking all about myself and what I thought was best.

What if I had walked in with a humble attitude, ready to serve and do God’s will?

Maybe I could have made a new friend.

Or comforted someone else who was having a rough day, too.

Maybe I could have humbly tried to learn a new skill and strengthened a friendship in the process.

Maybe I could have offered to help clean up while others enjoyed dessert so the organizers wouldn’t have to stay late.

The Lord so succinctly warns: “Beware of pride.” (D&C 38:39)

It is truly so difficult to weed out pride in our fallen state.

But I have found it becomes much easier when I think:

“Is this what a humble servant of God with a soft and willing heart would do?”

Beware of pride.

“Simply stated, if you or I do not believe we could be afflicted with and by pride, then we are vulnerable and in spiritual danger.” – David A. Bednar

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Beware of pride  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I knew quite a few wonderful people and great family friends who lived in those houses.

But as we drove past them…

My friend in my car started making rude statements about “all these rich people”.

She started sharing all her judgments.

I felt so weird about what she was saying…

Because it didn’t align with what I knew about the generous and loving people who lived there.

It wasn’t until years later that I started learning more about pride.

I had always thought pride was a sin when people think look “down” on others.

But I slowly realized that pride is shown whenever we try to separate ourselves from others.

“The great enemy of charity is pride…. Pride exaggerates its own strength and ignores the virtues of others.” – Elder Uchtdorf

This could mean thinking we are better than others for what we DO have… or what we DON’T have.

But it can also mean finding fault in others.

Withholding praise.

Being jealous.

Being disobedient.

Causing contention.

These are all sneaky ways that pride shows up in our lives.

We read, “For the day of the Lord of Hosts soon cometh. . . upon the proud and lofty, and upon every one who is lifted up, and he shall be brought low.” (2 Nephi 12:12)

The Lord expects us to get rid of the pride in our hearts.

But He can also help us in the process.

Jesus can help us see each other on the same level.

He can fill our hearts with love and compassion.

He can help us recognize that our current bank accounts, homes, jobs, callings, political views, or clothing have nothing to do with who we really are in the eternities.

And He can fill our hearts with a recognition of all the places we try to separate ourselves from others, where we’ve allowed our pride to seep into our being.

And most importantly, Jesus can help us work to eliminate our pride, one step at a time.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post THOSE rich people first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

“Why can’t she just fulfill her calling? It’s not that hard!”

I’ve noticed that when I judge other people, I’m usually comparing my strengths to their weaknesses.

I’m an organized, efficient, and dependable person.

So a lot of the judgmental thoughts in my head are focused on how other people are not as organized, efficient, or dependable as I am.

And on the flip side…

When I’m sinking into self-pity, overwhelmed at everything I’m not doing, I’ve noticed something, too.

“We spend so much time and energy comparing ourselves to others—usually comparing our weaknesses to their strengths.” —Dieter F. Uchtdorf

I’m usually comparing my weaknesses to other people’s strengths.

“Why can’t I create a creative meal like that for my kids?”

“I’ll never be able to connect the way she does.”

It sounds a lot like the situation Paul describes:

“And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.” (1 Corinthians 12:21)

We are all (to some extent) saying that we don’t need people the way they are when we judge them.

And we are all thinking that our community doesn’t need us the way we are when we judge ourselves negatively.
⁣
We all have been given different spiritual gifts and talents.

There is no need to compare our gifts and talents with each other.

No matter how tempting it may be to do so!

We need everyone in the kingdom of God.

We need people at every skill level.

We need people with every kind of gift imaginable.

We need people who are willing to develop new talents.

We need people who are patient with other people’s weaknesses and don’t stress about fixing things they can’t fix.

We don’t need to feel prideful about the gifts we have, or bitter about the gifts we don’t.

We can just feel gratitude.

For ourselves, and for others.

Just like a body needs all the various parts with their unique functions, scars, shapes, beauty, injuries, and purposes…

We need everyone EXACTLY as they are right now, filled with different personalities and strengths and quirks and experiences, in order to create a functioning, beautiful body of saints who are willing to take the time to love and lift everyone toward Jesus.

You are needed exactly as you are!

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The harsh truth about judging others first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Haman was the epitome of being prideful.

Time and time again, he thought only of himself, he took personal offense to everything, and he felt like he needed to get revenge for any unfairness in his life.

And then we have Mordecai, Esther’s cousin, who seemed to be the epitome of humility.

He waited endlessly outside the palace doors to learn what his sweet cousin/adopted daughter was up to, he helped the king, he mourned with others when they received devastating news, and he humbly asked for Esther’s help.

So how does the story of Esther end up?

In Esther 8:2, we learn “the king took off his ring which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.”

Mordecai completely replaced Haman!

In other words, humility and selflessness completely replaced pride and selfishness.

Pride got Haman the immediate accomplishments and praise.

Humility got Mordecai the delayed awe and respect.

Pride told Haman that he deserved honor because of his title.

Humility taught Mordecai to do good works and not worry about the rest.

Pride taught Haman to take personal offense and to feel like he needed to teach others a lesson.

Humility taught Mordecai to fast and pray, to mourn and comfort others.

Pride is flashy, impressive, and usually results in immediate rewards and attention.

But humility always wins in the long-run.

How can you work today to grow your humility and selflessness so much that you kick out the pride?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Humility always replaces pride first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Kids would ask me a question and I felt like I needed to know every answer.

I needed to be the knowledge authority in my classroom, right?!

But the best and worst part of teaching sixth grade is that the kids would start to (respectfully, for the most part) call me out when I said something incorrect.

It took a few months, but I finally realized how ironically empowering it was to admit that I didn’t know something to my students.

“Mrs. Black, why did you say THAT part of the story is the climax? Wouldn’t it be THIS part instead?”

I figured out that it felt SO much better (and by the way, MUCH more effective for teaching) to say:

“Oh interesting! Why do you think that? I could totally be wrong!”

The discussions that comments like this would spur were AMAZING. And tons of class members would start to chime in with their opinions, too.

Real learning would occur.

I loved it.

And I feel like right around this same time at the beginning of my teaching career was when I started to adopt this humility into my personal life, too.

Instead of thinking I had the right answer in my marriage, or in my church callings, or in other decisions that I had to make, it was so much more empowering to recognize that I COULD be wrong.

Replacing pride with humility one little step at a time has brought nothing but peace to my life.

In a gospel context:

“Humility enables us to have broken hearts when we sin or make mistakes and makes it possible for us to repent.” —Elder Steven E. Snow

I have found that it’s actually so freeing to acknowledge that I’ve been wrong.

I’m not perfect at it at all.

There are some sins that I want to cling to, like an insecure middle school teacher who insists they know the right answer.

“How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me?” (Exodus 10:3)

I hope I don’t take too long, though, to loosen my grip on those favorite sins, those rationales, those prideful tendencies.

Humility is much more freeing than pride.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Humility and teaching middle school first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Love the other people around you as much as you love yourself.

I’ve discovered that this is something many struggle with.

I’ve spoken with young men and young women recently who have admitted that they have a really hard time loving themselves.

I’ve spoken with friends as they’ve wept thinking that they’ve lost God’s love.

We need to love others, but we also need to take the time to love ourselves.

To trust that God loves us exactly as we are, which means we can, too.

To be empathetic and understanding to ourselves, and to others.

In my mind, it fits perfectly with the Lord’s earlier command to “be thou humble” in D&C 112:10.

I’ve learned that true humility is recognizing that ALL of us, every single one of us, including you, are perfectly loved by God.

No one is greater. No one is lesser.

And putting anyone on a different spot other than the equal line that we are all standing on, is pride. The opposite of humility.

Thinking that your bishop is more loved by God than you are because of his calling, is pride.

Thinking that you are more loved by God because you are a member of the restored Church of Jesus Christ than your neighbor down the street, is pride.

Thinking that you have failed God and that you are completely out of the reach of His love, is pride.

Thinking that it doesn’t matter whether or not you keep up on small spiritual habits because you can handle life without all of that, is pride.

Pride is believing anything other than the fact that we are all equally loved by God and that we are all His children.

And humility is getting everyone, including yourself, back on that same playing field. Recognizing that God loves all of His children equally.

Let your love for others be the same as the love for yourself.

And whether that means you need to work on realizing your exact relationship with God a little better, or recognizing other people’s relationship with God better, or maybe a little bit of both.

Then you are following the counsel to be thou humble.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Loving yourself and others first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.