Pride

I found out this morning that we, Elder Goff and I will be speaking in church tomorrow. My topic is pride... I always get a kick out of how the topics we are assigned apply so well to things we are struggling with. Pride can be a very bad thing, and its something that very few people do not have so its one of those things that all of us could work a little harder to be a little better at.
 
  There was a wonderful talk given in our Church's last Octobers General Conference. General Conference is a semiannual meeting that is broadcast all over the world for members of our church everywhere to watch. It is where many of the leaders of our church get up and address some of the topics they feel impressed to speak on to help the people of the world, because as wonderful as the scriptures are there is something about modern day revelation that applies so well to us today, and I think the fact that is modern is what makes it easier. Anyways at this most recent conference there was an amazing talk given by a man named President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, he is the second counselor of our church presidency, on Pride and the Priesthood. He spoke on how pride can take so many different forms. It is a gateway sin, it leads to many other sins that can begin to lead to our down fall. This is because, it can lead us to build ourselves us up so much that we begin to tear others down and cause them to compare themselves to others instead of them looking at their own special talents that our loving Father in Heaven has given to them. It causes people to act strangely, such as during a sporting event when things become too competitive and feelings get hurt.

   As we read through the scriptures our Savior, Jesus Christ the one who set the perfect example, warned so often about pride. Such as, the young man who asked Jesus what he must do to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. The boy is told to keep the commandments and to sell all that he had. The boy runs off because he had many possessions and didn't want to leave them. Then the comparison is made that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into heaven. This doesn't mean if you are rich are doomed, it is saying that we must be willing to give of ourselves, to be humble and recognize that all the gifts we have are from above. To listen to others ask others for help and not only to rely on our own strength. The last one is one that I personally struggle with the most, is asking others for help. I know it is because I am often too prideful to ask for help from others, I don't want them to see my weaknesses, but the truth of the matter is we ALL have weaknesses. We have things we cannot do by ourselves and things that we must give up so the Lord can help us. This was very clear to me when I was served a very large portion of humble pie is what I have heard it called, when you think you are doing good so the Lord blesses us with something to "help us out". Now that I am still in the recovery process, I am beginning to see where I should have forgotten myself sooner and asked for help. The Lord doesn't want to punish or hurt us He just wants us to learn the proper lessons in this life, so lets watch and listen for those clues so we don't have to eat as much humble pie, because the Lord can and will humble us. This is my testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.