Humility Before God

2 Nephi 15:21 - "Wo unto the wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight!"

Elder N. EIdon Tanner  - This is a warning to our day. When people "become learned in the worldly things… [they] become self-sufficient and are prepared to lean unto their own understanding, even to the point where they think they are independent of God…How much wiser and better it is for man to accept the simple truths of the gospel and to accept as authority God, the Creator of the world, and his Son Jesus Christ"

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Transcript

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Welcome to Speak This Peace. A daily podcast dedicated to drawing closer to the Savior through the powerful truths found in the Book of Mormon. Each episode, we focus on one verse that helps us walk more faithfully in his footsteps.

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One of the greatest spiritual dangers we face is believing that we know enough to live without God. The more knowledge, experience, success, or ability we gain, the easier it can become to trust ourselves completely. We may still believe in God, but quietly begin to rely more on our own reasoning, our own plans, and our own opinions than on His guidance. Pride often does not begin with rebellion. It begins with self-sufficiency. Isaiah warned of a people who had become wise in their own eyes. They trusted their own judgment so much that they no longer felt a need for the Lord. That same danger exists today. We live in a world that celebrates self-reliance, personal truth, and individual wisdom. While knowledge and education can be blessings, they can also become obstacles if they cause us to stop seeking God. The Lord is not asking us to stop learning. He is asking us to remain humble enough to remember that His wisdom is greater than ours. Second Nephi 1521. Woe unto the wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight. As we study this verse today, along with teachings from Elder in Eldon Tanner, we will consider what it means to trust God more than ourselves. The phrase wise in their own eyes describes more than someone who is educated or intelligent. It describes someone who believes their own judgment is enough. It is the attitude that says I know what is best without asking what God has said. It is possible to believe in God and still slowly begin to trust ourselves more than Him. Pride often grows quietly. It can appear when we stop praying because we think we already know the answer. It can appear when we ignore prompting because they do not match what we want. It can appear when we hear counsel from the prophets and apostles but think our personal opinions are more correct. It can even appear when we believe the commandments are good for others but not necessary for us. The danger of being wise in our own eyes is that we stop being teachable. We stop seeking correction. We stop feeling a need for repentance because we convince ourselves that our way is good enough. When that happens, we can slowly drift away from the Lord without even realizing it. The gospel teaches a very different pattern. God invites us to seek wisdom, but He wants us to seek it from Him. He wants us to study, learn, think, and grow, but always with humility. Real wisdom is not found in proving that we are right. Real wisdom is found in being willing to let God show us where we are wrong, and then having the humility to change. Elder and Eldon Tanner taught, This is a warning to our day. When people become learned in the worldly things, they become self-sufficient and are prepared to lean under their own understanding even to the point where they think they are independent of God. How much wiser and better it is for man to accept the simple truths of the gospel and to accept as authority God, the creator of the world, and his Son, Jesus Christ. This warning from Elder Tanner is especially important because worldly success can sometimes create spiritual weakness. When life is going well, when we are accomplishing goals, making money, building careers, and gaining recognition, it can become easy to believe that we do not need the Lord as much as we once did. We may still attend church, pray, or read the scriptures, but our confidence begins to shift away from God and toward ourselves. There is nothing wrong with education, ambition, or achievement. Those things can be great blessings when they are used with humility. The problem comes when we begin to believe that worldly knowledge is greater than divine truth. The Lord sees things we cannot see. He understands what matters internally. He knows consequences that we cannot predict and dangers we cannot recognize. The simple truths of the gospel often require humility because they are not always complicated. Pray, repent, forgive, keep the commandments, study the scriptures, follow the prophet, trust Jesus Christ. The world often sees those answers as too simple. But God's way has always been simple enough for the humble and difficult for the proud. Accepting God as the highest authority means we are willing to let Him lead even when His direction is different from our own ideas. It means we are willing to admit that His understanding is greater than ours. It means we trust that obedience brings more peace than pride ever will. We live in a time when almost every opinion can be found online. We can search for answers, watch videos, read arguments, and find people who agree with almost anything we already believe. That environment can make it easy to trust our own thinking above the voice of the Lord. One of the best ways to know whether we are becoming wise in our own eyes is to ask ourselves some honest questions. When we disagree with God's commandments, do we assume he is wrong or that we may need to change? When we hear prophetic counsel, do we search for reasons to ignore it or reasons to follow it? When we make decisions, do we rely only on logic and personal preference, or do we sincerely ask the Lord what He would have us do? Humility does not mean thinking less of ourselves, it means thinking of God more. It means recognizing that no amount of education, talent, experience, or success will ever replace our need for Jesus Christ. We do not outgrow the need for prayer. We do not become so experienced that we no longer need scripture study. We do not become so wise that we can safely ignore the Lord's direction. The more capable we become, the more important humility becomes. The stronger we are, the more important it is to kneel. The more we know, the more important it is to remember that God knows infinitely more. So here is today's challenge. Take a few minutes today to identify one area of life where we may be leaning too heavily on our own understanding. It may be a relationship, a decision, a habit, a concern or a question. But pray specifically about that area. Ask God to help us see what He wants instead of what we want. Then act on the answer He gives, even if it requires humility, patience, or change. Thank you for listening to Seek This Jesus. I hope this message helps you draw a little closer to the Savior Jesus Christ. Please, don't let this podcast be your only scripture time today. As we open the scriptures for ourselves, the Spirit will teach us things no podcast ever could. If you are exploring the truths of the Book of Mormon for the first time, you can receive a free copy using the link in the description found in every episode of Seek This Jesus. I invite you to come back tomorrow for another person message to help you stay focused on Jesus Christ. Until next time, keep seeking this Jesus.