pride & humility

today on the way to work i felt impressed to listen to the talk "beware of pride," written for a conference of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints by a prophet named ezra taft benson in 1989. i've been impacted by this text previously in my life, particularly as a missionary, and it had been a while since i had read it. it really kicked my butt this morning by helping me to emerge from a wedding-planning-self-absorbed bubble of pride i've realized i'm in.

since these words were very impactful for me, i thought it a good idea to share. 

the proud make every man their adversary by pitting their intellects, opinions, works, wealth, talents, or any other worldly measuring device against others. in the words of c. s. lewis: “pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. … it is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone.”

the proud stand more in fear of men’s judgment than of god’s judgment.“what will men think of me?” weighs heavier than “what will god think of me?” 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.” ...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?

selfishness is one of the more common faces of pride. “how everything affects me” is the center of all that matters—self-conceit, self-pity, worldly self-fulfillment, self-gratification, and self-seeking.

the scriptures testify that the proud are easily offended and hold grudges. they withhold forgiveness to keep another in their debt and to justify their injured feelings. the proud do not receive counsel or correction easily. defensiveness is used by them to justify and rationalize their frailties and failures. 

god will have a humble people. either we can choose to be humble or we can be compelled to be humble. [the book of mormon prophet] alma said, “blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble.” let us choose to be humble.

i am committed to choosing to be humble and being superior to my former self. 

{beautiful artwork by lisa congdon}