Lesson for October 18, 2015

Lesson for October 18, 2015 Today our lesson was given by Maggie Kopp on the talk by President Ezra Taft Benson, “Beware of Pride” and also how to be good leaders—two chapters in one lesson Last week we were challenged to repent. Did anyone have an experience with that? Today we are going to talk about how to be better. President Benson defined pride as enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellow man. He also mentions being arrogant and being competition with other people. After President Benson’s talk a lot of people would not say they were proud of their children or country, but being well pleased with them would not be the same kind of thing as being an enemy or arrogant or self-centered—it’s all about me and my abilities, not being humble or caring about others or having gratitude toward God. When we recognize the worth or value, we are returning to an old sense or definition of pride. President Benson said that pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only having more in comparison to someone else. It is typical for women to compare themselves to others. President Benson said there is a sin of comparing ourselves at the bottom looking up. Sometimes it’s comparing our worst day against their best day. Putting one against the other. Sometimes we compare ourselves to those in different circumstances than we are. We have different gifts and different talents and we need to learn to be grateful for what we have and work to improve them. When we compare, we often rely on our own strength and not on what the Lord can do. When we get into this state, we become jealous. But we are here to love others and get close to others, including family. Comparison stops our progression. It is a tool of Satan. We also need to get to know what’s going on in the lives of others. We also need to recognize that we have come a long way from where we were many years ago. The world is a world of competition and we need to focus on more important things. Service and empathy help us connect with God. Sometimes we don’t look at others as children of God and real people who have feelings. If we pray for others and learn to love them, we won’t be in competition with them. When we retrieve the humility we should have, we serve more effectively. Humility is not convincing ourselves that we are worthless and without talents, it’s acknowledging that God is the source of all our blessings. Maggie has been following the project at UVU of women in leadership. They surveyed many women in leadership positions who said they felt inadequate in body image, their teenage years, parenting, and feeling like failures. Women’s influence in righteousness is huge. In that sense we are leaders. We need to know who we are. We must respect ourselves and others. Sometimes it is hard to love others, but we can respect them and see what we can do to respect them and serve them. Our divine nature has nothing to do with our accomplishments or worldly things, it has to do with being children of God. We can and we can be willing. If our motivation is to do as much as we can to help, then we can have confidence. If our motivation is to be the best, we will always be worried. When we know we are on God’s errand, we may feel inadequate, but we know that God will make us the difference. The UVU study asked when were they confident—when someone mentored them and also when they gained more knowledge. When we know what God wants us to do, we can be confident.