I recently read an article that has touched my heart. It is called "Beware of Pride" By Ezra Taft Benson. Somethings stood out to me that I feel like I should share and some things that I have been pondering over to help me not to get caught in the cycle of pride.
1. There is NO such thing and righteous pride. It does not exist.
2. Central to all pride is Enmity. Enmity is "hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition." If you feel this in anyway, I would ask that you would repent, as I have done, so that we can become better people.
Pride comes out in being:
Competitive
faultfinding
gossip
backbiting
murmuring disobedient
selfish
CONTENTION
do not receive correctness well
envying
coveting
withholding from another person or God
Now I know this is a long list, but these are some characteristics of people that have pride in their hearts. The hard part is seeing that we are being prideful and needing to repent of this and become better. I would challenge all who read this to honestly evaluate and consider things that you can work on. This is not to make you feel bad, I am sharing this because I want all of us to become better people and followers of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Because he taught that pride is what holds us back from progressing. God doesn't want us to be the same, or to never change.
We can get rid of pride by:
Choosing to be humble
getting rid of enmity
receiving counsel and chastisement with a softened heart
forgiving others and ourselves
preaching, or sharing the word of God
Going to the temple
REPENTING
loving God and putting him first in our lives.
As we strive to overcome pride, I know that God will help us. He wants us to overcome this weakness we all have and become better people.
