What Is G-d That We Should Be Mindfull?

[StrawberryFields]

Originally posted by Traveler@Nov 22 2004, 11:01 PM

Ray & Jenda: Pride is a cleaver foe. A simple conviction of truth can turn a person prideful. Even a understanding of G-d can make a person prideful. I am sorry to admit that even a sincear thanks from someone can turn a person to pride. And I have never been in an argument but that pride convinced me to do so. And now I must be quiet on this matter before I condemn myself.

The Traveler

Ihave learned very much from your words.

I am now concerned to day a word without being prideful. I have a few questions at the risk of sounding prideful I want to ask.

Is it wrong to have some amount of pride?

Does a reply of thanks always turn into pride?

A person who gives a sincere testimony to another is acting prideful?

I have been taught that pride being out the natural man and the natural man takes us further away from becoming Christ like.

If all of the things you mention can turn us prideful then what do we have left?

[Ray]

Pride is to think more highly of yourself than you should, and yes, Traveler, by putting yourself in a position to give counsel to someone else you are taking a risk that you might be or might start to be considering yourself more highly than you should. There is also a scripture that says something about how man should not counsel his fellow man, but do you think that means that we should not try to help others to come to an understanding of the truth? I don’t. But I do believe we should be careful about how we consider ourselves and the people we are trying to help.

Lots of things can make a person prideful, but a person can have everything and still not be prideful. And I dare say that I am not prideful, though I could very well become that way very easily if I don’t continue to watch myself very carefully.

[Guest curvette]

Originally posted by Ray@Nov 23 2004, 12:21 PM

And I dare say that I am not prideful, though I could very well become that way very easily if I don’t continue to watch myself very carefully.

Maybe Santa will send you a cheval mirror for Christmas!

[Ray]

Heh, I already have the best mirror I can get, and that is in the eyes of my wife. :)

[Traveler]

Originally posted by Strawberry Fields@Nov 22 2004, 10:44 PM

Ihave learned very much from your words.

I am now concerned to day a word without being prideful. I have a few questions at the risk of sounding prideful I want to ask.

Is it wrong to have some amount of pride?

Does a reply of thanks always turn into pride?

A person who gives a sincere testimony to another is acting prideful?

I have been taught that pride being out the natural man and the natural man takes us further away from becoming Christ like.

If all of the things you mention can turn us prideful then what do we have left?

It is interesting to me that the Father has never said that he is "proud" of his son. Instead he said "this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased".

I think that is interesting as well as telling.

I am pleased to call you my friend.

The Traveler

PS. Ray: I promise you that that you do not just give up pride. The Book of Mormon ask a question in this way "Have you been stirped of your pride"? For me, being striped of pride was not fun.

[Ray]

Originally posted by Traveler@ Nov 23 2004, 06:23 PM

PS. Ray: I promise you that that you do not just give up pride. The Book of Mormon ask a question in this way "Have you been stirped of your pride"? For me, being striped of pride was not fun.

Yes, I believe I have been “stripped” of my pride, but I will also say that if I don’t watch myself carefully, and keep watching myself, that I could easily become prideful again.

I’m not sure what you mean by saying that it wasn’t fun, though. To me it was a realization of how I had been, and how I could easily be again, by relying upon my own reasoning and so-called wisdom instead of upon our Lord and the Holy Ghost for guidance. And although I guess it truly wasn’t “fun”, it was a good experience, because I appreciate it when the Lord sees fit to chastise me for my follies.

Btw, are you referring to this scripture:

Behold, are ye stripped of pride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God. Behold ye must prepare quickly; for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand, and such an one hath not eternal life. – Alma 5:48

Notice that people who are not stripped of pride are not prepared to meet God, which leads me to believe that when people are stripped of pride, they are prepared.

And brother, I am ready… although I am in no great big hurry. :)

[Guest curvette]

Originally posted by Ray@Nov 24 2004, 12:34 PM

although I guess it truly wasn’t “fun”, it was a good experience, because I appreciate it when the Lord sees fit to chastise me for my follies.

I quite enjoy chastising you for your follies! :)

[Traveler]

Ray: You scripture reference is excelent.

I use to think I was ready - but the more I learn the more I realize how unready I really am. Please realize I do not critize. It just that it has not been at all easy for me. The reason I avoid sin is not because I don't like to sin - in fact often sin is much more fun than other choises. I avoid sin because it is such a problem to repent and the pain it causes others is just not worth it. Sometimes it just seems that being good should be more rewarding. I have such a hard time being good for nothing :) Take Care

The Traveler

[Cal]

Originally posted by curvette+Nov 19 2004, 05:49 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (curvette @ Nov 19 2004, 05:49 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin--Ray@Nov 19 2004, 01:49 PM

Why would anybody in their right mind bow down to dumb idols?

And yet people "in their right minds" consistently did just that for thousands of years. It seems strange to us, because we've grown up in a monotheistic environment. Ancient peoples though, couldn't grasp the concept of a single, "Alpha" God who didn't want to have images of Him made. They didn't worship the idols persay, they worshipped the deity. The idol was just something physical to represent the deity to the people. Sun, rain, wind, harvest, fertility, etc. Their everyday lives depended so heavily on these things that they would sacrifice whatever they thought these "gods" wanted in order to keep them happy. Even Israel had a very difficult time giving up the gods that they could see the images of day to day for the unseen God Yahweh.

Actually the idea of a single, unseen God could be seen as a political convenience for the Hebrew leadership. When you have a large group of people all paying homage to a variety of deities represented by various graven images, it is very hard to claim authority over them in the name of any single "god". They problem becomes, by, which god or image do you claim authority? To which image do you derive permission to govern. You could do as the Egyptians and have a "governing" god, like Ra. Or you could do as the Hebrew leaders and claim there really is only one god, and everyone has to worship him. And since making of graven images confuses the identity of the god (no two images are likely to look alike) you have to forbid the making of such images---now everyone is on the same page and can be made to bow to the authority of the people who claim to represent it--the Hebrew kings and priests.