Eriks Thought

Every so often I make a full circle in a personal cycle I seem to go
through about twice a year. At then end of the cycle I always get back to
the same point. Alma 5, and Beware of Pride.

I can tell when I am getting to that point when I start getting answers to
my prayers about the material blessings I seek.

Here are some questions that I have to ask myself. Well mostly phrases,
and points that stand out when I read either that chapter, or Beware of
Pride.

I think we can all benefit from this. keep in mind that this is for me, I
had no one but myself in mind when I wrote these thoughts down. I wrote
these down for me to reflect on. So if what I am writing bothers you, its
because of your own guilt.

-Nephites fell because of pride.

-Lucifer fell because of Pride. (how he developed pride while in the
presence of God I would like to know, but the fact that he did is the
same.

-It was through pride that Christ was crucified.

-Saul became an enemy to David through pride.

-King Noah's pride sent Abinadi to the flames.

-Herod sorrowed at the request of his wife to behead John the Baptist. But
his prideful desire to look good to “them which sat with him at meat”
caused him to kill John.

-In the scriptures there is no such thing as righteous pride, All pride is
sin. (I think when a parent says "I am proud of you, they really mean I am
pleased with you. That is what the Father said when introducing is son
Jesus Christ "this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased."

-No matter how the world uses the word we must understand how God uses the
word so that we can understand the scriptures. (one of, if not THE biggest
way satan hides the meaning of the scriptures is by changing the way we
understand words. An example of this is the word grace.)

-Our will in competition against Gods will allows desires, appetites, and
passions to go unchecked, and unbridled.

-The proud can not accept the authority of God giving direction in their
lives. (I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord -as long as I want to go
there, they may even think themselves completely sincere, and even mean it
sincerely, yet that reservation still stands firm deep inside their
hearts.)

-The proud wish God would agree with them, they are not interested in
changing their opinions to agree with Gods.

-Another major portion of this very prevalent sin of pride is enmity
toward our fellowmen. We are tempted daily to elevate ourselves above
others and diminish them. (Enmity is something that God placed between us
and satan. I would like to know how that all works, from Gods point of
view.)

-The proud make every man their adversary by pitting their intellects,
opinions, works, wealth, talents, or any other worldly measuring device
against others. 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
(No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.
Is this why I want to be rich? or do I want to be rich to help others?
Jacob 2:18-19.)

-The proud stand more in fear of men’s judgment than of God’s judgment.
“What will men think of me?” weighs heavier than “What will God think of
me?”.

-Would we not do well to have the pleasing of God as our motive rather
than to try to elevate ourselves above our brother and outdo another?

-Some prideful people are not so concerned as to whether their wages meet
their needs as they are that their wages are more than someone else’s.
Their reward is being a cut above the rest. This is the enmity of pride.

This is key:

-When pride has a hold on our hearts, we lose our independence of the
world and deliver our freedoms to the bondage of men’s judgment. The world
shouts louder than the whisperings of the Holy Ghost. The reasoning of men
overrides the revelations of God, and the proud let go of the iron rod

-Pride is a sin that can readily be seen in others but is rarely admitted
in ourselves.

-Most of us consider pride to be a sin of those on the top, such as the
rich and the learned, looking down at the rest of us. There is, however, a
far more common ailment among us—and that is pride from the bottom looking
up

-Another face of pride is contention. Arguments, fights, unrighteous
dominion, --generation gaps--, divorces, spouse abuse, riots, and
disturbances all fall into this category of pride.

(Generation Gaps? Parents to proud to have more kids? kids to selfish to
have children? I know that God expects us to use our heads, but where is
the line between faith, and pride? or is delaying having children ever a
mater more than just faith? Nephi teaches that there is a path between
where we stand, and the place that we need to be to fulfill Gods
commandments. I guess God expects us to use our heads to find that path.)

-The scriptures testify that the proud are easily offended and hold
grudges.  They withhold forgiveness to keep another in their debt and to
justify their injured feelings. (Is that why some refuse to let others pay
them back? "You don't need to pay me, I would rather feel like you owe me
something.")

-The proud do not receive counsel or correction easily. (On the other hand
the proud also seek to find ways to correct others using it as a way to
put themselves above another.)

-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. (Self-esteem is nothing more than knowing ones
worth in Gods eyes. If you understand how God feels about you, nothing
anyone can say or do will effect how you feel about yourself. Suicide is
purely a self centered action. It is never a reaction to the hand that
they have been dealt.)

-The proud won’t change their minds to accept truths, because to do so
implies they have been wrong.


I know that was long. But it is important. Dad and mom are getting old.
(sorry =D) They will not always be able to hold us together as a family,
especially if we let our pride get in the way.

There isn't much I can say, any lecture you give yourselves would be
better than anything I can say. So start talking to yourselves. Read these
things over and over if you have to. If you haven't been translated there
is something in there you are guilty of. So get a move on =D
(Alicia approved it so you know its from God. :+D)

P.S. I love my wife with all my heart.

p.s.s. (or is that P.p.s?) my wife says I'm weird.

(I'm pretty sure its p.p.s since it stands for Post Script, and Post
Script Script wouldn't make as much sense as post post script.)