PRIDE

CAPSTONE: We are all children of our Heavenly Father who loves us no matter our wealth, looks, or heritage.  Pride is the focus that allows us to think that we are above or better than another of Gods children, and we are not.  We are all equal in God’s eyes.  Some of the descriptions used in my quotes to describe pride are: ugly, a deadly cancer, a sin, self-glorification, and the most deadly spiritual virus.  These words describe pride perfectly.  It’s a simple observation that someone has nicer hair, then it lead to their shoes are expensive, their car has really cool gadgets, their house has more square footage, and so on, until that person thinks they aren’t good enough because they don’t have all those things.  Are they less of a person, absolutely not, but it is hard to get out of your head, once that thought enters.  It’s so important to know that we should not judge another because of how they look and hope that we are not judged by another because of how we look.  As Saints, we need to be united in our purpose here on earth and lift each other up, because once pride is enters our hearts it affects everyone around us. -becki johnson  

1.        “The proud depend upon the world to tell them whether they have value or not. Their self-esteem is determined by where they are judged to be on the ladders of worldly success. They feel worthwhile as individuals if the numbers beneath them in achievement, talent, beauty, or intellect are large enough. Pride is ugly. It says, If you succeed, I am a failure.  If we love God, do His will, and fear His judgment more than men’s, we will have self-esteem.”

-Ezra Taft Benson, “Beware of Pride,” April 1989 General Conference https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1989/04/beware-of-pride?lang=eng

2.        “Pride is a deadly cancer. It is a gateway sin that leads to a host of other human weaknesses. In fact, it could be said that every other sin is, in essence, a manifestation of pride.  This sin has many faces. It leads some to revel in their own perceived self-worth, accomplishments, talents, wealth, or position. They count these blessings as evidence of being “chosen,” “superior,” or “more righteous” than others. This is the sin of “Thank God I am more special than you.” At its core is the desire to be admired or envied. It is the sin of self-glorification.”

-Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Pride and the Priesthood,” October 2010 General Conference https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/pride-and-the-priesthood?lang=eng

3.        “Clearly, the members of the Church face tremendous challenges in the latter days. We must not only resist, but mount a counteroffensive against the temptations of the world and its teachings, if we are to preserve our uniqueness.”

-L. Tom Perry, “Behold, The Lord Hath Shown unto Me Great and Marvelous Things,” October 1992 General Conference https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1992/10/behold-the-lord-hath-shown-unto-me-great-and-marvelous-things?lang=eng

4.        “Beware of pride. A unity which comes to a family or to a people softened by the Spirit will bring great power. With that power will come recognition from the world. Whether that recognition brings praise or envy, it could lead us to pride. That would offend the Spirit. There is a protection against pride, that sure source of disunity. It is to see the bounties which God pours upon us not only as a mark of His favor but an opportunity to join with those around us in greater service.”

-Henry B. Eyring, “That We May Be One,” April 1998 General Conference https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1998/04/that-we-may-be-one?lang=eng

5.        “One of you may be well-born and well-formed while another is not. In either case, there is a testing. That is what mortality is all about. The poorly born may lack self-esteem, or the well-born infected with pride. Pride is the most deadly spiritual virus. In the eternal scheme of things, who is to say which is the most favored?”

-Boyd K. Packer, “To Young Women and Men,” April 1989 General Conference https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1989/04/to-young-women-and-men?lang=eng

6.       “In all of our testifying we must avoid arrogance and pride. We should remember the Book of Mormon rebuke to a people who had such pride in the greater things God had given them that they afflicted their neighbors.”

-Dallin H. Oaks, “Testimony,” April 2008 General Conference https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/04/testimony?lang=eng

7.       “Pride is the great enemy of unity. You have seen and felt its terrible effects. We have seen the life-destroying effects of such tragic conflict. You and I know people who left the fellowship of the Saints over injured pride.  Happily I am seeing more and more skillful peacemakers who calm troubled waters before harm is done. You could be one of those peacemakers, whether you are in the conflict or an observer.”

-Henry B. Eyring, “Our Hearts Knit as One,” October 2008 General Conference https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/10/our-hearts-knit-as-one?lang=eng

8.        “Pride creates a noise within us which makes the quiet voice of the Spirit hard to hear. And soon, in our vanity, we no longer even listen for it. We can come quickly to think we don’t need it.”

-Henry B. Eyring, “Prayer,” October 2001 General Conference https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2001/10/prayer?lang=eng

9.        “The ultimate Latter-day Saint priorities are twofold: First, we seek to understand our relationship to God the Eternal Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, and to secure that relationship by obtaining their saving ordinances and by keeping our personal covenants. Second, we seek to understand our relationship to our family members and to secure those relationships by the ordinances of the temple and by keeping the covenants we make in that holy place. These relationships, secured in the way I have explained, provide eternal blessings available in no other way. No combination of science, success, property, pride, prominence, or power can provide these eternal blessings!”

-Dallin H. Oaks, “Focus and Priorities,” April 2001 General Conference https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2001/04/focus-and-priorities?lang=eng

10.    “Disciples of Jesus Christ understand that compared to eternity, our existence in this mortal sphere is only “a small moment” in space and time. They know that a person’s true value has little to do with what the world holds in high esteem. They know you could pile up the accumulated currency of the entire world and it could not buy a loaf of bread in the economy of heaven.”

-Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “You Matter to Him,” October 2011 General Conference https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/10/you-matter-to-him?lang=eng