Pride and the fall thereof....

In the scriptures it seems to me that Pride is the great sin. In Lehi's dream, Pride was the great and spacious building. "and it fell, and the fall thereof was esceedingly great". The Lord continues to speak often on how pride is the center of wickedness. It is the pride of the people that bring them down, that lead them to destruction. It is pride that can destroy our souls. It is pride that must be overcome. God tells us that the "proud shall be as stubble" and "the proud and the lofty shall be brought low"

Now on to fear. I suffer from high anxiety. I fear greatly many things. One thing I fear is the loss of relationships. Mix this with a bit of pride and I have found great lessons for me. Lessons on how I need to watch myself, and take care not to become prideful.

Many years ago, I was very afraid. Afraid of my husband dying. This was such a gripping fear at the time that I felt unable to cope. I did what I thought I should and attended the temple. I found great peace there. while that peace chased away my fear and gave me faith. I discovered years later that I had also opened the door to great pride. I felt that day that I had received a "premonition". I thought I knew exactely what might be one day. I held onto that thought refusing to listen to anything else. I became prideful.

This pride led to other times where I felt for sure I could just know what tomorrow was going to bring. Through many, many years I have been brought low. I am sad that my pride, my foolishness and my pride hurt some people around me. I am sad to report that because I wouldn't accept anything but my own prideful idea, I missed the truth often of what the Lord really meant that day.

Pride is a most difficult thing to over come. It takes a lot of sorrow and humility to overcome being prideful. I guess I want to give a warning to all. Beware of pride. It comes in so many different ways. It disguises itself and if we are not always watching our thoughts and actions, before we know it, we may find ourselves full of pride.

The wonderful part? I have also learned that my Heavenly Father loves me. I am the dust of the earth and yet at the same time...A child of God.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn a little more on how easily pride can enter our hearts. It makes the experiences, however much they hurt, worth it. And now...the rest of the story. Trust in the Lord.

That is amazing to me.