While I was in the shower I -for some weird and unknown reason- started to contemplate my understanding of Pride. Since coming on mission, it has changed quite a bit. Before mission, I didn't think much of it. I was well aware that I was an extremely prideful person, but it didn't mean much. Since coming on a mission, I've started to realize it's importance. Rather, I've started to realize the importance of humility.
Humility is defined in Ch.6 of Preach My Gospel in this way: "Humility is willingness to submit to the will of the Lord and to give the Lord the honor for what is accomplished." It also goes on to say this: "Humility is not a sign of weakness; it is a sign of spiritual strength." From this, we learn that Humility is an awareness and willing acknowledgement of the Lord's hand in our lives. We become aware that all that we are and all that we have is given to us by him; we also learn that we are extremely blessed that the Lord gives such great importance to such weak and small creatures as our selves. Humility gives us the strength we need to rely on the Lord, and it stands in direct opposition to Humility, but all pride doesn't seem bad, right?
Well, pride remains evil no matter how it is, but there is a feeling similar to pride that we can apply to many more things - to be "well pleased" or to "have joy in" something. When we are proud of something we forget the hand of the Lord in it. We forget his great mercies and blessings, and rely only on our perceived victory, forgetting to give the laurels to the one who has given us the chance to run the race. However, there is a sense of "pride" that we feel in other things that doesn't forget the Lord. I call this being "well pleased."
A Father can be well pleased in his child, he can be well pleased in the work he has done, and he can be well pleased with the wonderful wife he has.
A Mother can be well pleased in her children, she can be well pleased in her clean home, and she can be well pleased when there is harmony in her home.
None of these things forget the Lord, in fact, they rely on him. You can't feel "well pleased" without him. You can certainly feel proud, but it will be a fleeting thing that fades with time, or becomes something far more malevolent. To best highlight what I mean, it's important that I make an example using something positive, then I'll be able to best explain the negative.
It has been my experience that working on any of the Christlike attributes -Faith, Hope, Charity and Love, Virtue, Knowledge, Patience, Humility, Diligence, and Obedience- will invariably increase the others. When you increase your knowledge your hope and humility increase, as your hope and humility increase, so too do your diligence and charity, and so on. Becoming a better person isn't treading down a single path, but weaving a tapestry into a single image. That image is Jesus Christ. We may focus solely on using a threat of "red" humility, but you will need to use blue and green thread to make progress or you'll have to stop working with the thread. For as beautiful as that image is, the reverse is unfortunately true.
As you sink further into one of the "Traits of the Devil" (as opposed to Christlike Attributes) the others also worsen. As your pride increases, so does your sloth. You feel no need to climb any higher, you've climbed higher than anyone else. The only thing that could drive you higher is your envy, which drives you to go higher so that no one else can have your place. If you can't climb any higher, then you tear them down; here we see an example of wrath. Most of the world knows these "Traits" by another name: "The Seven Deadly Sins." (in Japanese: Nanatsu no Taizai) These traits or sins are: Pride, Lust, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Gluttony, and Envy. You can also weave these things together into their own tapestry, but the only thing it depicts is "Eternal Despair." Yes, Damnation, Suffering, Guilt, Agony, and Death. These tapestry woven by the "Nanatsu no Taizai" is empty of any form of joy or light. It is vanity. These things occur when we forget the Lord.
Every one of the Seven Deadly Sins actually takes on an interesting forum when you put the hand of the Lord in instead of forgetting or rejecting it. Pride becomes "well pleased," something we've talked about a bit. Sloth reflects "Mosiah 4:27," we need to work hard, but we don't need to run faster than we have strength. Envy becomes "The Desire for Eternal Progression" with the hand of the Lord you don't desire the progression of the others. Lust becomes the righteous desire to fulfil the Lord's commandment to "Multiply and Replenish the Earth." Gluttony is interesting "To him who has shall be given, and to him who has not shall be taken." Greed could be to desire greater blessings from the Lord, and wrath could be righteous indignation - to abhor sin.
So, what is my understanding of pride? It is the desire to see only yourself, it is selfish, destructive, retrogressive, and a prison. Pride would have you keep the spotlight at all costs, endanger those around you for petty reasons, pushes you to forsake God, and will lead to naught but misery and woe. Please, remember the hand of the Lord in your life, remember his "long arm of mercy." These are the last days, the Lord is at his most merciful, the higher law of Jesus Christ gives greater room for repentance and hope. The Mosaic Law carried death as the penalty for many sins, which cuts off the chance for repentance, we have so many more opportunities to repent now than the Jews and other tribes of Israel. This is a great blessing and offers great joy for us.
Please, instead of pride, embrace being "well pleased." Pray that you will be able to become someone who the Lord will be well pleased with. Pray to become someone who will be welcomed into heaven with a great amount of joy and rejoicing. After you pray, go and do. Listen continually to the words of the Spirit, thank the Lord for what you were able to do, and thank him for what you weren't able to do. Thank the Lord for your freedoms and liberties, thank him for his blessings, thank him for the people he has allowed you to be surrounded by, thank the Lord for the big things and the little things. Thank the Lord your God for the love he has for you, and thank him for allowing you to be "A Child of God."
I know that you and I, and all of us are Children of God. So long as we remember that we can continually rely on the Lord, and prevent the poison of Pride from destroying us. I echo the words of a beautiful hymn: "The Lord is my Light, he is my joy, and my song. By day and by night he leads me, he leads me along." I ask and beg you all to remember the Lord, walk in humility before him. Remember the prophet, his chosen servant. Be humble and take his counsel.
Embrace humility, and you will have far fewer shackles holding you back from the greatest joy that the Atonement of Jesus Christ can offer you. You will be able to become someone "in whom I [the Father] am well pleased." I share this short talk with you in the name of our Beloved Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, Amen.
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