The Pride Cycle

Have you ever wondered why anyone would turn away from the blessings God promises? 
 C. S. Lewis offered this idea: because of their pride.  He called Pride the father of all sin because if we think of any sin, we can see pride at the root of it.  He said that Pride always means enmity: enmity between people and enmity toward God.

Woody Allen once said that actors could "create their own morality.'' Such utter  nonsense is at the heart of pride.  

As soon as we think "I am more important than. . .. ; I am better than . . . . I am smarter than . . .." we have taken the first step in they downward spiral that we sometimes call the fall from grace.  The sooner we exit this cycle and humble ourselves to the reality that we are not more important, the better.  If we come to God with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, we will be blessed.

Some people knowingly act against God. With eyes wide open, they leap away from God in open and total rebellion.   I'm not talking to them because if they know God and still  reject Him, they won't listen to any voice of warning. One need only look at the Old Testament to how many of God's prophets have been tortured and killed for telling them a truth they refused to hear.

I am talking to the vast majority of people whose fall from grace is gradual and who "see  the error of their ways," to borrow an old expression. The opportunity to repent and turn back to God is implicit in the cycle.

The Old and New Testament are full of examples of "pride going before the fall," to borrow another old, but true, saying.  However, I see it most clearly in the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.
This chart exemplifies the stages of this most destructive cycle. Once you recognize the cycle from the point of the Nephite nation, you will see it clearly in the other testaments of the Children of Israel.

We all begin this life as innocents, humble and teachable.  Jesus taught us that if we want God's blessings, we must humble ourselves  as little children. Therefore the cycle begins with righteousness.  If we continue in righteousness as we grow, we will receive the blessings of the Covenant, which includes prosperity and peace.

But we live in a fallen world. As we grow, we become prideful. Me! Me! Me! If we exit the cycle at this point, we can avoid being chastened by the Lord.  This does not mean we will never have trials in our lives, but if we remain in faithful discipleship with the Lord, He will support us in our trials.   If we don't turn to God, the cycle of pride continues.

As soon as pride is allowed to run rampant in our lives, we begin to think that we know more than God and we begin to violate our covenant promises.  This leads to wickedness. We can exit the pride cycle at this point through repentance.  If we do not and continue in our sinful ways, God will withdraw His hand of protection and we become vulnerable to the buffeting of Satan. This usually involves destruction and suffering.

If we learn from these experiences and repent at this point, we can still exit the cycle.  However, it is more painful to do so than it would have been had we left the cycle earlier in the process.  Repentance is a healing process leading to forgiveness through the Infinite Atonement of Jesus Christ.  Because it is often painful and humbling, many people avoid repentance to avoid pain.  These people turn away from Christ, the very power that can heal them.

If they people do repent and have that mighty change of heart - the new heart of flesh instead of stone that God promises the penitent -  they can return to the righteousness of living in the Covenant and being blessed with peace which, according to the Apostle Paul, passes all understanding. (Philippians chapter 4)

However, some people refuse to repent and continue to live with enmity toward God. These people, if they had once embraced God's covenant, become apostate and outside the protection of the covenant. 

The natural consequences of sin lead eventually to destruction, whether in this life or the next.  Israel fell to the Assyrians and Judah to the Babylonians and we read of their fate in the Old Testament.  In the Americas, the Jaradite and Nephite cultures were completely annihilated by their enemies.  Even the early Christians of the New Testament apostatized and fractured the Church.  The early Apostles such as John and Paul wrote that in their days, Antichrists had already arisen like wolves among the sheep.

Tomorrow we'll discuss behaviors that lead people to fall away and in later posts, we will discuss the antichrists of New Testament and the Book of Mormon.

©Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson, 2019