In Chapter 12 of his book ‘The Divine Gift of Forgiveness,’ Elder Richard L. Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shares:
As we consider our need for repentance, the voices of fear and pride entice us to ignore or procrastinate what we know deep inside that we must do. Have any of the following thoughts come into your mind?
- I don’t think that I can do it.
- My friends will desert me.
- I have sunk too far to change.
- My mistakes are not that bad.
- There are others a lot worse than I am.
- I don’t want to tell everything.
- I don’t want to be embarrassed in front of others.
- I can just start doing better; the past will go away.
- I don’t fully trust those who want to help.
- With willpower, I can do it myself.
- I’ll change later, when my life is different.
- I have to do this myself.
- If I try and fail, I am worse than I am now.
- The details that I will need to confess will be too disappointing to those I love.
Many words can describe the barriers that rise up as we consider coming more fully to Christ: rationalization, dishonesty, ignorance, ingratitude, insufficient faith. One way to simplify how we see these barriers, allowing us to dismantle them and accelerate our progress, is to organize them into twin bullies that work to impede our repentance: the twin bullies are fear and pride. They are twin bullies because they work together in hopes of preventing us from making the important decisions that will bring us to Jesus Christ. Fear and pride immediately attempt to counter our positive thoughts of faith and prayer and our determination to become the person God wants us to be.
False pride and erroneous fear are connected because of our mortal insecurities, which Satan constantly tries to use against us. Pride can cause or increase our fears, and often we inappropriately counteract our fears with pride. Individuals who demonstrate great pride are usually filled with great fear, and fear frequently increases the human display of pride.
This detrimental combination keeps us from feeling the Spirit of the Lord. If we are not mindful of our thoughts and feelings, these bullies of fear and pride can control us. We do not always choose these negative emotions, but we can learn to manage and control them. We learn how to avoid the improper thoughts and emotions Satan places in our path to keep us from repenting or feeling God’s love and forgiveness.
Fear
One definition of fear is very positive: the fear of the Lord. “His mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.” (Luke 1:50) “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Psalm 111:10) As the Bible Dictionary explains, this fear means awe or reverence.
On the other hand, we are commanded more than one hundred times in the scriptures to “fear not” or “be not afraid.” The first response from Adam after transgressing was that he felt afraid, and that fear led him to hide from God rather than seeking Him out. (Genesis 3:10) Sin blocks the confidence our Heavenly Father wants us to feel from and in Him. . . . ~Neil L. Anderson, The Divine Gift of Forgiveness (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2019)
(Posts with a preamble asterisk * are for a more general audience and not specific to teaching of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)
