Beware of Pride

It has been interesting to reflect on pride within our marriages this week.  I gained better insight on how pride can destroy our marriages and relationships if we leave it unchecked.  As I read President Ezra Taft Benson’s Talk on Beware of Pride, I realize there are many ways we can allow pride into our lives, which can destroy those relationships we hold dear. 

Are we ever too prideful that we are not willing to seek for our partners influence?  In Gottman’s book, we can learn how we can benefit from the influences of our spouses.  He teaches us how women are more prone to naturally do this as they practice this from an early age whereas men are learning to gain this insight from the influence of a good woman.  Gottman explains that more men who are emotionally intelligent respect their wives and honors their influence.  This is not about a man losing his power to make decisions but yet a man without pride who is willing to stand beside his wife in unity to create a loving home with respect for one another.  As couples are willing to let go of their pride by communicating with respect, they will allow one another’s influence to benefit their marriage.

Ezra Taft Benson said, “pride is a sin that can readily be seen in others but is rarely admitted in ourselves.” We can clearly see this in the example from Goddard’s book called, Drawing Heaven Into Your Marriage.  He gives an example of the “grapefruit syndrome” when a young married couple sat down to share one another’s annoying habits. The wife begins first, she goes on and on about how her husband eats a grapefruit like an orange. It bothers her immensely. When it came time for her husband to express is annoyances, he looked at his wife and said, “Well, to tell you the truth, I can’t think of anything I don’t like about you, Honey.”  This quickly caught the young wife off guard catching her in the cycle of pride. How often do we see the fault of those we love but don’t recognize our own?

The good news is there is an antidote for pride… it is called humility.  When we seek to be selfless and forgiving we will become a more humble person, seeking ways to serve those we love most.   May we forgive the annoying grapefruit habits and focus on turning towards one another, giving respect and honor to the one we have chosen to love.