The Beauty of Pride

Pride is such an ugly attribute to carry. There is no success in pride. That being said, it is scary how often we let pride slip right into our lives because it is easy to be prideful. Despite the fact that is it easy to act with pride, it can also be easily avoided with the help of outside sources; to be more specific,with the help of the Lord. 

As President Benson said, "The central feature of pride is enmity -- enmity towards God and enmity toward our fellowmen." Enmity can be described as actively opposing someone with hatred or hostility. 

How can we allow ourselves to show any hatred towards God or our loved ones? Hate is such a strong word, but I think that if we truly understood it's relationship with pride we would do our best to be less prideful. When we are proud we view ourselves as better than everyone else leaving no room for equality. Pride is a result of competing with others to prove you are better. It is essential that we do not let these ideas creep into our marriages.

As we learn from leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, men and women were created to be equal partners in a home and through the experiences of raising children. Although mothers and fathers have different roles and responsibility, if that pride-less equality does not exist, issues that are not necessary will occur. In the Family: a Proclamation to the World it says, "By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners" When one individual uses their abilities to get ahead of the other they are allowing pride to grab a hold of their heart, which can be really damaging in a marriage. In reality, there is no beauty that is attached to pride. I will make sure to steer my heart and mind away from pride so I can work as an equal partner with my spouse and continue to build my marriage along with the kingdom of God.