Beware of Pride

If there was some sort of list of the greatest conference talks then I would like to imagine that President Benson’s, “Beware of Pride” would be among the highest, supposing it did not win entirely. Pride is a universal, insidious sin. Countless people struggle with the dangers and consequences of pride. The temptation to act on pride is always there. Accordingly, I am regularly inspired to read, “Beware of Pride,” both independently or for my education. This is because of the fact that every time I read it, I am reminded of one of my own weaknesses and the necessity of self-improvement.

I find application of the subjects studied in my child development class, which I took last semester. Self-awareness, our sense of ourselves as an individual, develops early in life. It is first evident at around eighteen months old but continues to be refined throughout childhood. It is our self-concept, our ability to distinguish ourselves from our environment and other members of our species. It is a quality that marks especially intelligent species such as dolphins, magpies, elephants, and primates, including humans.

The feelings of pride and humility stem from our self-concept. We begin to feel these at around two years old. As our self-concept develops, so does our understanding of how these feelings are connected to the rest of our lives. Childhood is such a critical period of development because the lessons learned throughout it greatly determine who we are as adults. Thus, the best time to teach about pride is during these formative years. If we wish to shape our children’s lives for the better, then we can teach them early. This will ensure their knowledge and application of humility and its necessity in tempering prideful decisions.

It seems that another critical period of learning regarding pride and humility is before and after marriage. As President Benson taught, “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.” Marriage is associated with contention all too often. We considering the definition of pride we should remember that it includes putting others, or ourselves, before our spouse. Besides our commitment to the Lord’s commandments, nothing should come in between our commitment to our spouse. They are our eternal companion and friend. When we fight with them are we considering their feelings or are we stubbornly attached to our own? The best defense against pride is asking ourselves such questions and identifying the ways in which we may improve ourselves.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1989/04/beware-of-pride.p1?lang=eng (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.