Humility

The other day, I was annoyed by every little thing my husband did. I felt that every little thing he did was a deliberate act against me. I felt that I was being mistreated and taken advantaged of because all that I do for him in taking care of the house and kids. Eventually he left for school and I sat and read chapter four of Dr. Goddard’s book Drawing Heaven into Your Marriage. I was chastised for my behavior and attitude towards my husband and my marriage. From that point I could continue to be bitter or choose to be humble.

In President Benson’s talk Beware of Pride he talks about how proud people do not want to accept God or man’s opinion by changing theirs but expects others to change their opinion. Pride keeps us from becoming more like our Savior. To repent we must accept change but in the talk, President Benson says “the proud do not receive counsel or corrections easily“. When we have pride in our heart it will keep us from growing and learning from others. We must follow President Benson’s council and allow ourselves to be humble.

It is hard to choose humility, because you have to admit your faults and wrongdoings. I knew after I read Dr. Goddard’s book that I needed to apologize to my husband. As I followed the prompting I felt the humility wash over me as well as I felt the spirit enter back into our home. When we are prideful we do not allow the spirit to dwell with us. In Dr. Gottman’s book the Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work he talks about accepting our spouse’s influence in the marriage. When we accept the other’s influence and work jointly together in over coming our challenges and difference we can also allow the influence of the spirit to be in our home.