Mormon 8:36 states, "And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your
hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the
pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and
strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and YOUR
CHURCHES, yea, EVEN EVERY ONE, have BECOME POLLUTED because of the pride of
your hearts."
Walking in the Pride of your Hearts is an interesting
Hebraic expression. In Hebrew the heart is considered the center of our
thoughts and personality. Pride (root gey) means to lift up high like the
mountains that surround a valley. The idea is one of creating a place with high places or walls. In Hebraic thought The Torah (God's Instructions) are to be our
boundaries or walls, so when we walk in the Pride of our hearts we are walking
according to our own self or man made laws putting ourselves not only above
others but above God's instructions. This leads to a state of iniquity or
lawlessness.
In the above scripture it
explains that because we have created our own law or instructions and placed
them above God's instructions we begin to be divided and divided based upon
apparel, envy, etc. ALL of our churches have become POLLUTED (hebrew: MIXED or
UNCLEAN) because we lift ourselves up above God and his commandments. In doing so we walk after the lifted
and swelled thoughts or laws we personally create. In other words we become a
law unto ourselves.
