Excerpts from “Beware of Pride” by Ezra Taft Benson:
Most of us think of
pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness.
All of these are elements
of the sin, but the
heart, or core, is still
missing.
The central feature of pride
is enmity—enmity toward God and enmity
toward our fellowmen. Enmity means “hatred toward, hostility to, or
a state of opposition.” It is the power by which
Satan wishes to reign over
us.
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.” (Mere Christianity, New York: Macmillan, 1952, pp. 109–10.)
The scriptures testify that the proud are easily offended and hold grudges. (See 1 Ne.
16:1–3.) They withhold forgiveness to keep another in their debt and to justify their injured feelings.
Think of the many who are less active members of the Church because they were offended and their pride will not allow them to forgive or fully sup at the Lord’s table.
The antidote
for pride is humility—meekness, submissiveness. (See Alma 7:23.) It is the broken heart and contrite spirit. (See 3 Ne.
9:20; 3 Ne.
12:19; D&C 20:37; D&C 59:8; Ps. 34:18; Isa. 57:15; Isa. 66:2.)
We can choose to humble
ourselves by forgiving those who have offended us. (See 3 Ne.
13:11, 14; D&C 64:10.)
We must yield “to the enticings of the
Holy Spirit,” put off the prideful “natural man,” become “a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord,” and become “as a child,
submissive, meek, humble.” (Mosiah 3:19; see also Alma 13:28.)
“Beware of
Pride”, General Conference, April 1989
