Beware of Pride

I have heard the word PRIDEa lot throughout my life and haven’t thought much about it. But after reading President Ezra Taft Benson’s talk, “Beware of Pride” my eyes have been opened to how dangerous pride is and how common it is in our lives.

“Pride is a sin that can readily be seen in others but is rarely admitted in ourselves. Most of us consider pride to be a sin of those on the top, such as the rich and the learned, looking down at the rest of us. There is however, a far more common ailment among us - and that is pride from the bottom looking up. It is manifest in so many ways, such as faultfinding, gossiping, backbiting, murmuring, living beyond our means, envying, coveting, withholding gratitude and praise that might life another, and being unforgiving and jealous.”

When I think of pride I think of power and those who are better off then most. This quote has taught me that even those on the bottom can be prideful. All of the descriptive words listed are relatable to most of us. This shows that we all need to beware of pride. 

“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 word to worldwide conflicts. The scriptures tell us that ‘only by pride cometh contention.”

Having a large family, I can relate to how when there is contention in the home it drives the spirit away. However, I never considered pride to be connected to contention. It is so important that we strive to keep contention out of our homes. 

“Pride adversely affects all our relationships - our relationship with God and His servants, between husband and wife, parent and child, employer and employee, teacher and student and all mankind. Our degree of pride determines how we treat our God and our brothers and sisters. Christ wants to lift us to where He is. Do we desire to do the same for others?”

It is so important that we cherish our relationships, especially those within our family. That is Satan’s biggest goal, to destroy the family. If we are Christ-like, we will become cheerleaders for those we care about and try to life them up just like Christ is always trying to life us up.

“The antidote for pride is humility - meekness, submissiveness. It is the broken heart and contrite spirit.”

It is so important that we are aware of how we stop pride. To be humble is the key to staying away from pride. We need to carry the love of Christ in our hearts so we can be like Him.