One of the greatest talks ever (and I don’t think I’m alone in this) is given by President Benson, entitled: Beware of Pride. There are so many powerful quotes from this talk I urge you to reread it for yourself. The main message is don’t let pride separate you from God.
Even though I’ve got practically the entire talk highlighted with things I need to remember and understand about pride, there was one sentence that really stood out to me this time:
“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.”
There are so many voices shouting for independence, freedom and justice in the world today. And there are so many other voices caught up in this parade shouting their voices as well. It’s as though they’ve taken off on another path and we hear their voices carried off in the wind. With their voices raised they can’t possibly hear the subtle call of the Holy Ghost leading them back to the iron rod.
As the media calls out “Lo, here and Lo, there,” shouting for our attention, Pres. Nelson warns, “It has never been more imperative to know how the Spirit speaks to you than right now” (“Hear Him,” April 2020). The voices of the world are so loud and caustic, we must hold tight to the iron rod if we are ever going to make it to safety.
The world today is full of anger and violence, just as the scriptures warn. So many civilizations have destroyed themselves because of their prideful wickedness. It is our turn now. What will we do?
Pres. Benson tells us what the antidote is. “The antidote for pride is humility—meekness, submissiveness. It is the broken heart and contrite spirit.”
I’ve been doing a lot of pondering about being submissive lately. The world uses this word to call out the weak, those unable to defend themselves. Pres. Benson says this is one of the attributes we should actually be developing within ourselves. I wrote a post a while ago that featured misconceptions about submissiveness by a Christian woman, a professor, who feels much like we do about this word: submissive. The world mistreats the word submissive and subjugates it to the word pride. But there are good people all over the world who see through the lies and can speak up for truth.
The word submissive, when used as Christ used it, holds incredible power. Think of Neal A. Maxwell, when he said,
“So many of us are kept from eventual consecration because we mistakenly think that, somehow, by letting our will be swallowed up in the will of God, we lose our individuality. What we are really worried about, of course, is not giving up self, but selfish things—like our roles, our time, our preeminence, and our possessions. No wonder we are instructed by the Savior to lose ourselves. He is only asking us to lose the old self in order to find the new self. It is not a question of one’s losing identity but of finding his true identity! … As one’s will is increasingly submissive to the will of God, he can receive inspiration and revelation so much needed to help meet the trials of life.”
Be submissive to God. Avoid pride, which influences you to think you can do all things yourself and even better than God. Don’t let pride separate you from God, who is the only one who can save us.