The Pride Cycle

Feb 13, 2016

This past week in school we studied Helaman 10-15  Some people commented that they didn't especially like Helaman because it is so dark.  Personally, I like it because we aare really getting into the meat of it - miraculous stories and prophetic teachings.

Something else that is prevalant in Helaman is the pride cycle.  If that is not something that sounds familiar to you, let me elaborate.  The pride cycle goes like this:  People have trials.  They turn to God out of desparation.  They pray and repent and beg for His help.  God helps and blesses those who turn to Him.  God's blessings become a source of pride and because they are so proud of all they have, they turn from God.  They think they don't need Him anymore because they are doing so well "on their own".

This happens repeatedly in the scriptures.  It also happens in our world today.  Look around.  We are a prosperous people and our society seems to think there is no need for God.  Personally, I often forget to turn to my Savior and stumble through trying to fix things myself when I am faced with a problem.  I doubt I am the only one.

At our school gathering this week, someone mentioned a humility cycle.   I have been thinking about that, trying to pin down exactly how that would work.

Looking at the pride cycle, the break down occurs when The Lord sends His blessings and people become prideful.  They forget where their blessings come from.  So, to reverse that, we need to be humble and recognize where those blessings come from.  Humility, gratitude and then service are the keys to turning the cycle around.

So a humility cycle would work like this:  We face trials.  We turn to God.  He blesses us.  We are grateful.  We are humble.  We recognize that the good things in our lives are blessings.  We look for ways to bless others.  Inevitably new trials will come and when they do we continue in faith, knowing that God will provide a way for us to overcome.  As we continue to be humble, our faith increases.

For a little more insight, look to Helaman 3:35
"Nevertheless they did pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, ye, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God."

This group of people maintained their closeness to God even while the rest of the Nephites were traveling along the pride cycle because they were humble, they prayed, they relied on faith in Christ, and yielded their hearts (and wills) to God.

We must do the same to avoid being caught up in the dangers of pride.  We must recognize that our blessing come from God, be grateful, be humble, serve others, pray and yield our hearts and wills to God.

Every Sunday as we partake of the Sacrament, we have the opportunity to evaluate ourselves.  Are we proud of ourselves, our wealth, status, education, accomplishments, and so forth or are we aware of how worthless we would be without our Savior?

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I am sorry that this is rushed and a bit disorganized.  The computer is doing weird things and I don't have the time or energy to go back and edit right now.
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