Pride

So one of the comments on the post I previously linked to had an interesting correlation to Pres. Benson's talk on Pride. I hadn't read the talk and so I was chastised. Bluntly so. I've always thought of pride like he said.

"Another major portion of this very prevalent sin of pride is enmity toward our fellowmen. We are tempted daily to elevate ourselves above others and diminish them. (See Hel. 6:17; D&C 58:41.) The proud make every man their adversary by pitting their intellects, opinions, works, wealth, talents, or any other worldly measuring device against others. In the words of C. S. Lewis: “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. … It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone.” (Mere Christianity, New York: Macmillan, 1952, pp. 109–10.)"

Then the talk went on... sigh, I have a ton of work to do. He said this.

"Pride is a sin that can readily be seen in others but is rarely admitted in ourselves. Most of us consider pride to be a sin of those on the top, such as the rich and the learned, looking down at the rest of us. (See 2 Ne. 9:42.) There is, however, a far more common ailment among us—and that is pride from the bottom looking up. It is manifest in so many ways, such as faultfinding, gossiping, backbiting, murmuring, living beyond our means, envying, coveting, withholding gratitude and praise that might lift another, and being unforgiving and jealous."

Reality Check, it's not about me??!!!

"Selfishness is one of the more common faces of pride. “How everything affects me” is the center of all that matters—self-conceit, self-pity, worldly self-fulfillment, self-gratification, and self-seeking."

Oh yeah this is me too.

The proud do not receive counsel or correction easily. (See Prov. 15:10; Amos 5:10.) Defensiveness is used by them to justify and rationalize their frailties and failures. (See Matt. 3:9; John 6:30–59.)

I thought I was doing well in this aspect of my life. I try not to judge people (although I'm not very good at it yet) I do try. However I am easily offended. I need to work on that. I put on an immediate defense when people point out my shortcomings and I immediately attack back pointing out their faults. How humbling this is reading this talk and realizing how full of pride I really am.