Pleasing Just God

Elder Devn Cornish of the Seventy was our visiting General Authority at Stake Conference last weekend. He gave very motivating talks during each session, the last of which dealt with pride. He stated that we often see ourselves higher or lower than others, and both viewpoints are equally associated with pride. The first is seeing ourselves, our circumstances and our achievements above those of other people, which is obviously associated with pride. But similarly, when we obsessively see ourselves as less than others or when we denigrate ourselves to draw attention to ourselves due to our misfortunes (including how we are mistreated by others) -- this is also pride. A classic example he used is social media, where it is easy to compare your worst to someone else's best (others post only their best moments). He said that instead of talking or thinking so much about ourselves ("I, I, I"), we should instead be thinking, "I wonder how Mabel is doing?" He summed up his talk with what he feels are the two most important words to live by: "Please God". We need to reflect on how we think, act and respond in all situations, to think of others rather than ourselves, and consider trying to please God rather than ourselves.

1 Nephi 6:5 Wherefore, the things which are pleasing unto the world I do not write, but the things which are pleasing unto God and unto those who are not of the world. 

LESSON LEARNED: I have always associated pride with inflated opinions of ourselves over others. It was interesting to learn that doting over our misfortunes and drawing excess attention to ourselves by how bad we have it is also a form of pride.

FEEDBACK: HAVE YOU SENSED THESE FORMS OF PRIDE IN YOURSELF OR OTHERS?