Sunday, August 1, 2010

The Price of Pride

Today I read Mosiah 20 - 21. These 2 chapters outline very well the very steep price of having pride. In these chapters first the Nephites are thrown into a war by the actions of others and they handle the situation wisely and their lives are spared. In the 2nd chapter however they go to war 3 times and all 3 times they are defeated.

However, none of this would have happened if the people had not allowed themselves to be taken in by King Noah and his evil ways. If they had continued under the pattern set for them by King Zeniff then they would have been just fine. However, the natural man took over and they fell into debauchery and now they are paying the price.

The price of pride is always high. Most of you have probably heard the phrase pride goeth before the fall, and it is very true. Pride will cause even the most righteous of individuals to submit and commit diverse sins, when otherwise they would not. Growing up I never understood peer pressure how people could allow themselves to do certain things just because it was what their friends wanted them to do.

I had a hard time being empathetic towards those people because I always had a very good sense of self and as such did not really care what others thought of me and it for sure never influences my actions. But there are so many people in this world that it does just that. They are lured in by their pride at being called a coward or any other number of hateful names and do things that under other circumstances they would never even consider. But you always have to pay the check and when we do things under the influence of our pride the cost can be quite steep indeed.

May we all learn the lessons from the past that the Book of Mormon can teach us and make sure that we are not allowing our pride to do our thinking for us. It is an ok thing to want to fit in with the crowd, as long as you are hanging out with the right crowd. Until tomorrow.

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