Is Pride Ever Good?
We are taught to beware of pride.
Most of the time pride is taught as being bad. But, is it ever good?
One example is with Ammon. His brother Aaron rebuked him when Ammon's joy appeared, to Aaron, to cause him to boast (Alma 26:10), which is a characteristic of becoming prideful. In the subsequent verses Ammon explains that his rejoicing is in God, and God's strength, mercy, power, and long-suffering.
But, it never really talks about this as being pride, although I'm guessing there was a type of pride. Just not one that would make Ammon believe he was better than anyone else.
Over the years I have found only one verse (there may be more) that indicates there can be some pride that is good.
My personal observations of people indicate that most people have a hard time not going to extremes. If the scriptures taught that there was a "good pride" then too many people might use it to justify their prideful actions. It is much better for the people to teach them about humility, meekness, and willingness to submit our wills to the Father's.
In Helaman 7:26 it states:
There are two obvious parts of verse 26. First, the people allowed pride to enter into their hearts. Second, that pride seems to have stemmed from their "exceedingly great riches."
But, it is easy to miss what is between.
The pride they had allowed to enter into their hearts had "lifted [them] up beyond that which is good" which implies their must be a good pride and beyond that level, that point, pride is no longer good.
The question would then be asked, where does good pride end and bad pride begin?
But the real question should be, what purpose does knowing where this point is serve? Too often people want to flirt with the limits of something, thinking it is always safe to walk the edge.
The problem is it is easy to step beyond that point.
Consider a cliff.
For most cliffs it is perfectly safe to walk right up to the very edge. You might even sit on the edge, hanging your legs over. You could walk along the edge, even put your toes over. As long as you don't lose your balance, you're safe on top of the cliff.
But, is walking that edge really safe? Or, would it be really easy to fall off.
It is much easier to fall off of a cliff when you walk the edge than if you maintained a safe distance from the edge.
When I studied youth leadership we broadly defined youth agencies as either fence builders or ambulances.
The fence builders tried to establish good morals, ethics, and values to keep youth from getting too close to the edge of the cliff.
Ambulance organizations were those who tried to help youth who had fallen over.
It is much easier, safer, and better to establish a fence, teach about the dangers, and lead by example, than to try to pick up the pieces when someone decides the fence isn't for them.
Pride is similar.
There is a good level of pride. But this pride is generally not seen as pride as it doesn't cause us to believe we are better than others. It motivates us to action to become better, but to help others to also be better.
However, if we allow our desire to become better carry us over the edge, to where we want to be better than others, and believe we are and should be treated differently, then pride is "beyond that which is good."
When we compare ourselves to other mortals, it is very easy to make comparisons and judgments, especially based only on what we can physically see.
Riches is an easy determinant. Having lots of money makes it easy for someone to compare themselves to the poor, and it can easily lead a rich person to believe that because they are better off financially, they must be better that the poor.
I could easy take this post off into several others, but I will refrain from doing so due to my lack of time.
The key to keeping ourselves from becoming prideful (where pride is no longer good) is not to compare ourselves to others, but to compare ourselves to God. Our strength, knowledge, wisdom, skills, talents, abilities, and even our riches are nothing when compared to our Heavenly Father's.
Ammon is a great example of this.
King Benjamin talked of this.
Many others have taught this
Pride is only good when it lifts us and others towards heaven.
Good pride is not selfish or self-centered. We can have pride in our children's accomplishments, and rejoice with them in their achievements. But we can become prideful if we believe our children are better than others.
We can take pride in doing our best, in putting forth our best efforts. This pride is a deep pleasure or satisfaction in our accomplishments, but its comparisons are only within our own personal abilities. When we become prideful, we see our accomplishments as better than the efforts made by others.
When pride becomes self-centered and selfish it is no longer good.
A final thought. Good pride will lead us to rejoice in God and having joy in what is good and right.
Most of the time pride is taught as being bad. But, is it ever good?
One example is with Ammon. His brother Aaron rebuked him when Ammon's joy appeared, to Aaron, to cause him to boast (Alma 26:10), which is a characteristic of becoming prideful. In the subsequent verses Ammon explains that his rejoicing is in God, and God's strength, mercy, power, and long-suffering.
But, it never really talks about this as being pride, although I'm guessing there was a type of pride. Just not one that would make Ammon believe he was better than anyone else.
Over the years I have found only one verse (there may be more) that indicates there can be some pride that is good.
My personal observations of people indicate that most people have a hard time not going to extremes. If the scriptures taught that there was a "good pride" then too many people might use it to justify their prideful actions. It is much better for the people to teach them about humility, meekness, and willingness to submit our wills to the Father's.
In Helaman 7:26 it states:
"Yea, wo shall come unto you because of that pride which ye have suffered to enter your hearts, which has lifted you up beyond that which is good because of your exceedingly great riches!"The prophet Nephi (son of Helaman) had been lamenting about the wickedness of the people, their pridefulness, and how they had allowed a "great abomination" (verse 25) to come among them.
There are two obvious parts of verse 26. First, the people allowed pride to enter into their hearts. Second, that pride seems to have stemmed from their "exceedingly great riches."
But, it is easy to miss what is between.
The pride they had allowed to enter into their hearts had "lifted [them] up beyond that which is good" which implies their must be a good pride and beyond that level, that point, pride is no longer good.
The question would then be asked, where does good pride end and bad pride begin?
But the real question should be, what purpose does knowing where this point is serve? Too often people want to flirt with the limits of something, thinking it is always safe to walk the edge.
The problem is it is easy to step beyond that point.
Consider a cliff.
For most cliffs it is perfectly safe to walk right up to the very edge. You might even sit on the edge, hanging your legs over. You could walk along the edge, even put your toes over. As long as you don't lose your balance, you're safe on top of the cliff.
But, is walking that edge really safe? Or, would it be really easy to fall off.
It is much easier to fall off of a cliff when you walk the edge than if you maintained a safe distance from the edge.
When I studied youth leadership we broadly defined youth agencies as either fence builders or ambulances.
The fence builders tried to establish good morals, ethics, and values to keep youth from getting too close to the edge of the cliff.
Ambulance organizations were those who tried to help youth who had fallen over.
It is much easier, safer, and better to establish a fence, teach about the dangers, and lead by example, than to try to pick up the pieces when someone decides the fence isn't for them.
Pride is similar.
There is a good level of pride. But this pride is generally not seen as pride as it doesn't cause us to believe we are better than others. It motivates us to action to become better, but to help others to also be better.
However, if we allow our desire to become better carry us over the edge, to where we want to be better than others, and believe we are and should be treated differently, then pride is "beyond that which is good."
When we compare ourselves to other mortals, it is very easy to make comparisons and judgments, especially based only on what we can physically see.
Riches is an easy determinant. Having lots of money makes it easy for someone to compare themselves to the poor, and it can easily lead a rich person to believe that because they are better off financially, they must be better that the poor.
I could easy take this post off into several others, but I will refrain from doing so due to my lack of time.
The key to keeping ourselves from becoming prideful (where pride is no longer good) is not to compare ourselves to others, but to compare ourselves to God. Our strength, knowledge, wisdom, skills, talents, abilities, and even our riches are nothing when compared to our Heavenly Father's.
Ammon is a great example of this.
King Benjamin talked of this.
Many others have taught this
Pride is only good when it lifts us and others towards heaven.
Good pride is not selfish or self-centered. We can have pride in our children's accomplishments, and rejoice with them in their achievements. But we can become prideful if we believe our children are better than others.
We can take pride in doing our best, in putting forth our best efforts. This pride is a deep pleasure or satisfaction in our accomplishments, but its comparisons are only within our own personal abilities. When we become prideful, we see our accomplishments as better than the efforts made by others.
When pride becomes self-centered and selfish it is no longer good.
A final thought. Good pride will lead us to rejoice in God and having joy in what is good and right.
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