During this lesson, your goal will be, to learn to identify instances of pride. To do this it is important that we understand what pride is, both in the worlds eyes, and in the Lord’s eyes. a high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc. Click on the box’s above to see the definition The central feature of pride is enmity— enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen. Enmity means “hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition.” It is the power by which Satan wishes to reign over us.

. As she looked out of the corner of her eye, Janet couldn’t help but notice the “popular girl” crowd wearing their fancy clothes, and preparing the hallways. “I hate those girls” she thought “Always trying to make themselves better than everyone else.” Not wanting to waste time, Janet hurries on her way. When she reaches her locker, she quickly unlocks it, grabs her books, and hurries away, trying to avoid the continual swearing of the boys who’s lockers are around her. Finally arriving at class, she sits down her chair, and turns to her friend Lisa. “Did you get your homework done” she asks. Lisa rolls her eyes and says “wasn’t it soooo lame! Mr. Jensen is such an idiot! I wish he’d grow a brain and assign us some homework that was realistic! It’s homecoming week, and as Janet walks into school, she can see that her classmates are brimming with school pride While this may look like an example of pride, remember our definition? President Uchtdorf explained that this form of pride is not necessarily bad. “I believe there is a difference between being proud of certain things and being prideful. I am proud of many things. I am proud of my wife. I am proud of our children and grandchildren.” GOOD! This is a great example of pride. Janet is showing 1) Hatred, 2) Hostility towards, and 3) opposition too these girls. The “popular girls” may or may not be showing pride, but Janet certainly is. GREAT WORK! While this sentence doesn’t necessarily show hostility, or hatred, it certainly is in opposition to God, which is part of our definition. In reality, every time we sin, we are showing pride. This is why president Benson sa “Pride is the universal sin, the great vice. Yes, pride is the universal sin, the great vice. Yep, you found it! As you can see, Lisa is clearly showing pride with her comment, since the comment shows hatred, hostility, and opposition to Mr. Jensen Remember, pride is emnity, or:

Top down pride is a sin of comparison, in which a person essentially says “I am better than you.” It is characterized by the following: 1.Conceit 2.Arrogance 3.Haughtiness 4.Boastfullness 5.Self Centeredness Bottom up pride is also a sin of comparison. In bottom up pride however, the person essentially determines that someone else is better than them. It Is characterized by: 1.Envy 2.Jealousy 3.Coveting 4.Gossiping 5.Backbitting 6.Faultfinding 7.Being unforgiving

Every Saturday Jake loves to watch football. One week, he and his budy are watching a game, when his Mom comes down and asks him to clean up some things, and do the dishes. He replies “yeah, in a minute,” and continues on with the game. At the conclusion of the game, he stands up and says, “Lets go get something to eat.” To which his budy replies “Don’t you need to do some chores first? “ “Eh” he says “somebody else will do them, it doesn’t need to be me.” That’s Right! Because Jake is being arrogant and self centered, he is exhibiting signs of top-down pride. I other words, he thinks his time and effort Is s more important than someone elses who will have to clean up his mess. Actually, Because Jake is essentially saying “My time is more important than yours” this is an example of top-down pride. Remember, one of the characteristics of Top-Down pride is self centeredness, which Jake is certainly showing.

Nicole and Justin dated for 6 months, but recently broke up. One day in the hall, Nicole sees Rachel talking with him, and immediately started asking questions. “Why would he be interested in a girl like her?” she says, following with “have you heard the kind of things she does?” With the interest of several girls, she goes on, “Oh well, that won’t last long, when he realizes what a total ditz she is.” While Nicole could be exhibiting top- down pride as well (Thinking she is better than Rachel) her action more fully mirror the attributes of bottom-up pride, which include, envy, coveting, backbiting, and faultfinding, all of which she has done. Good Work! This is classic bottom up pride. Nicole attitude shows that she is full of envy, and covetousness. She is engaging in gossiping, backbiting, and faultfinding, all of which are characteristics of bottom-up pride.