Pride is ultimately manifest by and in Satan. Lucifer, or "the Shining One" was truly a "son of the morning (2 Ne. 24:12). After his fall from heaven, that son of the morning became the prince of darkness and the father of mourning. Of those who follow Satan it is said, "Satan shall be their father, and misery shall be their doom; and the whole heavens shall weep over them" (Moses 7:37). We gain some insight into why Lucifer fell from Heaven in the writings of Isaiah. Speaking of Lucifer, "For thou hast said in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God..." Who are these stars? They are us! "I will sit also upon the [mountain of the assembly of the gods], in the [farthest north heaven]; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High" (2 Ne. 24:13-14). Satan said, "I want this, I want that." This is a very selfish and prideful mindset. He wanted to be above all; he wanted God's glory without any effort.
Because of this God said, "Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the [depth] of the pit" (2 Ne. 24:15). For, "the proud and lofty, and...every one who is lifted up...shall be brought low" (2 Ne. 12:12). An apostle stated, "One way or another, the grossly selfish will finally be shattered, whimpering, against the jagged, concrete consequences of their selfishness" (Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, May 1999, p.25). As a result of his pride, that Shining One became degenerate like an "abominable branch" (2 Ne. 24:19) without root or fruit; yea, he became even "as a carcass trodden under feet" (2 Ne. 24:19). Those who walk a prideful path will find that instead of leading to celestial peaks, it leads only to the dark depths of the pit. The lives of those who follow the tempter's travesty of the truth, end up in tragedy.
What then is pride? "It is an attitude that commences with personal comparisons with others and leads to demeaning thought or oppressive actions directed at other sons and daughters of God" (Dallin H. Oaks, "Pure in Heart", p.96). Pride is as C. S. Lewis said, "the complete anti-God state of mind." God is "immeasurably superior" to us and "unless [we] know God as that - and, therefore, know [ourselves] as nothing in comparison - [we] do not know God at all. As long as [we] are looking down, [we] cannot see something that is above [us]" (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, pp.109-111). Proud men or women "preach and set themselves up fro a light unto the world" (2 Ne. 26:29). "They put down the power and miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning, that they may get gain" (2 Ne. 26:20). Pride is the great stumbling block. When men walk by the light of the sparks of their own conceit, their lives are full of shadows of darkness (see 2 Ne. 7:11). Christ is the true light of the world and when men walk by the light of any other source, their light grows dim and soon dies out. The proud who set themselves up as lights unto others, only set themselves up to become lost in the tepid mists of darkness. Since pride is self-centered selfishness that is also competitive, those who engage in this hollow hedonism will never focus on the true source of edification, which source is Christ. Those who seek to compete with God will never succeed. Their end will be a pitiful brokenness.
The natural man is a prideful creature, thus, steps must be taken to overcome this great sin called pride. The road one must walk to leave the valley of pride is not an easy path; it is an uphill journey but it leads to the exalted heights of eternal life. Overcoming pride is accomplished by humbly following Christ, even if and especially if that means treading the thorny paths that He forged. As we follow Christ we too need to take up our crosses. We must submit ourselves to our Father's will, even to the point of crawling forward on our knees. King Benjamin taught, "And now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves? I answer you, Nay. Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth; yet ye were created of the dust of the earth; but behold, it belongeth to him who created you" (Mosiah 2:25). This is an important point to focus on. King Benjamin stated that we are less than the dust of the earth because the dust of the earth belongs to God. We are here on earth to show that we are willing to turn ourselves over completely to God. Christ ransomed us for Him but we must submit our wills to God's, else we do not belong to Him and, as Benjamin taught, in a sense really are less than the dust of the earth. Joseph Smith taught us that the earth "abideth the law of a celestial kingdom, for it filleth the measure of its creation, and transgresseth not the law" (D&C 88:25). The earth lives a celestial law, do we?
Those who do not humbly follow Christ are "in open rebellion against God" (Mosiah 2:37) for "no man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon" (Matt. 6:24). He or she who is prideful and unrepentant is not following Jesus Christ and therefore serves the devil. Of these people the Lord stated, "They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon, even Babylon the great, which shall fall" (D&C 1:16).
Overcoming pride is essential to our eternal salvation. We cannot trust in the arm of the flesh because flesh is dust and corruptible and must waste away. God will never fail us. He is there as we seek Him. We must pray for humility. We need to repent of our prideful ways and turn our hearts completely to Christ. This is a complete submission of our wills to God's. Only with the power of the Holy Ghost can we create this vast change within ourselves! I was not completely correct with my statement. Only the power of God, of the Holy Ghost, and of Christ's Atonement can make this change within ourselves. However, we need to demonstrate effort. The Holy Ghost will teach us how to humbly follow Christ and submit our wills to God's.
Great power, even greater faith, comes to us as we are humble. With humility and faith we can work miracles. The greatest miracle will be to change from the old man of sin and be reborn as a new creature in Christ. As we are humble we may be instruments in the Lord's hands. The more humble we are, the more effective we may be. I pray that we may strive to live in humility and take upon us the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment