'Overcome pride' be humble followers of Christ
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President Kim B. Clark spoke of the need to overcome pride and become humble followers of Christ during Brigham Young University's weekly devotional in the Marriott Center on Sept. 29.
President of BYU-Idaho and an Area Seventy, President Clark spoke of the growing presence in today's society of Satan's "great lie" of pride and the need to follow the contrasting "great truth" of the Father's plan.
"Pride has become especially critical in our day," he said. "We live in the dispensation of the fullness of times when the Lord is blessing His children with great knowledge, remarkable technologies, expanded opportunities for learning and great and unprecedented wealth."
With these blessings, however, comes a warning from the Lord, President Clark said.
"Beware of pride! This is the warning voice of the Lord to us now, in our day. We have obtained so much control over the resources of the Earth, so much understanding of the biology of life, so much capacity to travel and to communicate instantly that we have become 'puffed up' in our learning and our apparent control and power," he said. "Pride and its children — materialism, envy, arrogance, greed, thirst for recognition, lust for control and dominion — have become rampant in our culture and society. Modern Babylon is awash in pride."
Drawing from examples found in the Book of Mormon, President Clark spoke of the prophets who saw the current day and the powerful warnings of modern-day pride.
"The Book of Mormon was written for us. It bears witness of Jesus Christ and warns us of the perils of pride, both in prosperity and adversity," President Clark said. "Whether in prosperity or adversity, if we are not diligent and faithful, even the elect, even those greatly blessed by the Lord, can fall prey to the great lie and become hard-hearted, self-absorbed, stiff-necked and puffed up in their pride. …
"This calamity comes little by little over time. Pride and its effects are like a thin film of darkness that begins to settle on the soul layer by layer, year by year until the light of the gospel grows dim. Such people become hardened in their hearts, selfish in their behavior and puffed up in the pride of their eyes."
However, there is always hope, President Clark said.
"The proud and the selfish souls can come back. But after years of darkness and so many layers of pride, it will take a lot of spiritual solvent and a lot of spiritual scraping and sanding to get down to a bare soul and a soft heart."
He said, "Individuals have a choice in how they will react — they can follow the path of truth set by Christ, or they can follow the great lie set by pride.
"When we choose Christ, acting in faith to humble ourselves before Him, we put ourselves in the hands of the Master Finisher. As we do His will, He will help us be stripped of pride and become meek and lowly in heart, filled with His pure and perfect love."
Although the finishing process is not always pleasant, the Lord has promised His help.
"Being stripped of pride and becoming meek and lowly in heart is not easy," he said. "We cannot do it by ourselves. But there are patterns of life we can establish that will help us beware of pride, remember Christ, humble ourselves before Him and put ourselves in His hands."
President Clark gave four patterns to help individuals avoid pride.
1: Never do anything to drive the Spirit away.
"The Holy Ghost is essential to the Lord's finishing process. … Don't do anything, or wear anything, or say anything, or read anything, or listen to anything, or watch anything or go anywhere that would drive the Spirit away."
2: Don't let the world get into your heart.
"Never set your heart on things — on money, or houses, or cars, or clothes or any other thing. Don't let a career, or power or the honors of men get into your heart," he said. "Set your heart on the Lord and His kingdom, on your family and the temple and the things of eternity. Always live modestly within your means, and always pay your tithing and give a generous fast offering."
3: Serve the Lord.
"Accept and always magnify callings in the Church and volunteer to be of service in the kingdom. When the promptings of the Spirit come sending you on the Lord's errand to rescue a lost soul or to comfort one in need, act on those promptings quickly as soon as you can."
4: Stand in holy places.
"Make your home a sacred, holy place where the Spirit may dwell," he said. "Be in the chapel to partake of the sacrament every Sunday and prayerfully renew your covenant to 'always remember him and keep his commandments' (Doctrine and Covenants 20:77). If you live near a temple, go often to the House of the Lord."
By following these four patterns, individuals can feel the help and strength of a loving God, President Clark said.
"If we establish these patterns in our lives we will beware of pride; we will be true to our covenants; and we will be in the Master's hands," President Clark said.
"This combination of humility and courage is what we need and it is precisely what comes to those who reject the great lie and humble themselves before the Lord."
