Gospel Doctrine: Pride and Charity

by Nola Redd | More from this Blogger

26 Feb 2007 11:00 AM

This week's Sunday School lesson, appropriately titled "Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God", contains the remainder of the Savior's Sermon on the Mount. As I studied the first few verses, I was reminded to check the motivations for many of my actions.

The Savior begins by teaching His disciples to take heed not to give alms to the poor in order to receive recognition or riches from other men. If we do seek earthly recognition, we forfeit our Heavenly reward. Similarly, we are taught not to pray in order to be seen by men, but to be seen by God.

Honestly, my first thought was, well, I'm okay there! But, as I reconsidered, I began to realize that there are times when I do crave earthly recognition for my actions. In fact, only yesterday, while speaking with my husband, I made the comment that I thought some sisters were misunderstanding my intentions when I told them what I was working on. "Hopefully once they see the decorations, they'll be impressed," I told him.

Oops.

While my main intention with this issue was not to impress but to enlighten, I found myself in search of recognition. Knowing myself, I could see my frustration easily leading to a desire to impress, thus drawing me away from what should be the real reason for my service - a love of my Savior and my sisters. In fact, as I considered this more, and saw other instances where my desire for recognition crept in on the sly, I began to wonder if that might not be part of the reason for some of the struggles I had been having in my new calling.

Wanting to be recognized for our actions is a human desire. But as we seek that recognition, we must also realize such a desire is, in essence, prideful. It is our pride that makes us want to have others see what we have done. As we put aside that desire - overcome the natural man - we draw closer to our Savior.

We must also realize that Satan is ever vigilant. He will take the smallest crack in the door and seek to widen it. That crack may start with looking forward to hearing the "great jobs" many people pass on once a talk has been given (something else I realized I am guilty of). As we allow that pride to dwell within us, we give Satan the opportunity to open that crack even wider. Over time, we might find ourselves acting more for praise than for charity.

The best and greatest motivation for serving is charity, the pure love of Christ. We should love our Savior enough to magnify our callings and to do our best in our lives. We should love our brothers and sisters enough to seek out opportunities to serve and uplift them. As we do so, we will increase our proximity to our Savior and become more like Him.

Related Articles:

Obeying From Love

Are You a Disciple of Christ?

Gospel Doctrine: They Forsook All, and Followed Him

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Freelance writer Nola Redd is a stay-at-home mom to three kids, with a fourth on the way.

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