The reading this week was interesting not necessarily because of what it said, but because of where it lead me. Sometimes the scriptures might not seem to have that much relevance to us personally at first glance, but I think that’s what scripture study is about. You use the Holy Ghost to help you understand what to focus on and what threads in the reading to pursue.
Again, there’s a lot that I could write about. For example, most of the individuals were told something about how their calling was exhortation for the church. What does exhortation mean? The dictionary said exhortation “encourages, incites, or earnestly advises” or is an “argument, appeal, or admonition; the argument or appeal made.” The individuals in the scriptures weren’t necessarily called to preach, they were called to encourage, earnestly advise, appeal to others, and present a case for the Church and Christ’s Gospel (or so it appears from my perspective).
We could delve into the Holy Ghost, and how in the reading that it said, “And it shall be given thee in the very moment what thou shalt speak and write. . .” We could also talk about the degree to which God expects his followers to trust him, as indicated in the scripture where they were told to not worry about money, and clothes, and housing, that they would be provided for and that they were “called to prune my vineyard with a mighty pruning, yea, even for the last time. . .”
We could even talk about how Emma Smith was told that her calling in life was to “be for a comfort unto my servant, Joseph Smith, Jun., thy husband, in his afflictions, with consoling words, in the spirit of meekness.” That’s interesting because it demonstrates the wide variety of callings that people might have in life. When we get distressed thinking we’re not enough or not doing enough, it might be useful to remember that many aren’t called to do grand things, but small and simple things. Many are called to be a friend, or a comfort, or an example.
There were a lot of nuggets of wisdom I could have chosen to follow, but the one I pursued the most was the warning, repeated at least twice throughout these chapters to “beware of pride.” Isn’t pride just thinking you’re better than other people? What were these people doing that the Lord needed to say beware of pride? Did they think they were more spiritual, better, more righteous than others? Maybe. So I googled beware of pride.
The first thing that came up was a talk by President Benson from 1989 entitled Beware of Pride. He tells us that the Lord warns people to beware of pride 3 times in the Doctrine and Covenants, once saying “Beware of Pride, lest ye become as the Nephites of old.” This demonstrates the severity of the danger of pride, but we still aren’t necessarily that clear on what it is. Luckily for us, a few paragraphs later he expounds upon this:
Pride is a very misunderstood sin, and many are sinning in ignorance. In the scriptures there is no such things as righteous pride--it is always considered a sin. Therefore, no matter how the world uses the term, we must understand how God uses the term. . . Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness. All of these are elements of the sin, but the heart, or core, is still missing. The central feature of pride is enmity—enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen. Enmity means “hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition.” It is the power by which Satan wishes to reign over us.”
He said that pride is “competitive” in nature. That it is when we pit our will against God’s. Basically, it seems like he’s saying that when we refuse to let God prevail, as President Nelson admonished us, then we are putting our will above God’s, and refusing to submit to him, refusing to let God, our maker, be our master. “The proud cannot accept the authority of God giving direction to their lives. . . The proud wish God would agree with them. They aren’t interested in changing their opinions to agree with God’s.” An interesting tangent that seems related is the motto of a Satanic temple that I read about once. Their creed wasn't that you should murder or kill or be immorral. It was something that seems much more benign: “Thyself is thy master.” Ironically that short sentence does seem to encompass the opposite of Christianity (humility and submission to God) with a simple, prideful declaration of self as supreme.
President Benson also tells us that there are severe consequences of pride to “individuals, groups, cities, and nations.” He quotes Proverbs 16:18 which says, “Pride goeth before destruction.” He even goes so far as to say that pride “namely secret combinations, brought down both the Jaredite and the Nephite civilizations and has been and will yet be the cause of the fall of many nations.” (emphasis added) Pride is when we care more about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us, in the “competition for men’s approval.” He said that “Most of us consider pride to be a sin of those on the top, such as the rich and the learned, looking down on the rest of us. There is, however, a far more common element among us--and that is the pride from the bottom looking up.” This, he says, is manifest through things like “faultfinding, gossiping, backbiting, murmuring, living beyond our means, envying, coveting, withholding gratitude and praise that might lift another, and being unforgiving and jealous.”
“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.” Later he tells us that “The scriptures testify that the proud are easily offended and hold grudges. They withhold forgiveness and keep another in their debt and to justify their injured feelings.” Pride is a sin of division. It keeps us from becoming who we should be, and who we need to be. President Benson tells us that “Unity is impossible for a proud people, and unless we are one we are not the Lord’s.”
President Benson tells us that “Pride is the universal sin, the great vice.” Those are strong words. We should recognize that pride is something we all struggle with, although it manifests in various ways. “Pride is a damning sin in the true sense of that word. It stops progression.” He tells us that the antidote to pride is humility. . .” He goes on to advise us to choose to be humble. We can choose to be humble, or we can be compelled to be humble. I hope we can all work to choose humility instead of pride, submission instead of stubbornness, and Christ’s teachings instead of Satan’s teachings. I based the majority of this lesson on one talk from 1989. I imagine there are many more talks and insights regarding this topic that we could research further. I hope that we can all work to overcome our vices and strive to have better character. If we make ourselves better, we make the world better.
