A few days ago we had to drive to the mission office to take care of some business. I was the assigned driver of the car, which means I am supposed to drive the car and my companion is supposed to give an extra set of eyes to watch for dangers on the road. Usually I am the only one to drive unless I am injured or impaired, in which case he would drive.
From the few times my companion had driven the car, I had quietly decided in my mind that he was an inferior driver. I didn't like the way he accelerated or turned or braked (notwithstanding the fact that he had been on bike his whole mission and didn't have the ample opportunity I did to practice driving). During our visit to the mission office, I was afraid he would ask me if he could drive the car and started thinking about his flaws and how he might get us into an accident.
I was fatigued that day because of lack of sleep while my companion was not. While driving on the way home, I myself zoned out for a minute and ran a red light with a camera. After spending about ten minutes stressed out after I additionally missed the freeway entrance, I finally pulled into a parking lot and acknowledged that in my state of mind there was no way I would be safer on the road than he would be and let him drive home. Had I not acknowledged my pride, I may have harmed my companion and other people as well.
To be prideful is to place more trust in ourselves than in the Lord or to put the things of the world above the things of God. Pride is competitive; those who have it presume they are better than others. It is strongly condemned in the scriptures and impedes our spiritual progress. (See Preach My Gospel [2004], p. 120 or the online version.) Proverbs 16:18 is a wonderful summary of this: "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."
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