The truth about attacking the perceived self righteous.

[drtanner]

There is an interesting phenomenon that occurs when you make a sincere attempt to better yourself, to make a real change, to follow the commandments of god (or those professing to speak on behalf of God) Almost immediately you will get kickback from those around you when you advertise this or they notice it. This is especially evident in family relationships. Think Cain and Able, Nephi and his brothers, etc. why? Why does this happen? I believe one reason why this happens is because of what those not living up to certain standards believe about themselves in the moment they watch you improve. It send a message that most won’t accept as the truth, and that is that maybe there are things in our own life that need fixing, that need work, that need restoration. It is much easier to simply try and drag others down or give resistance to there desire to change, often most evidenced in a fruitless claim of “self righteousness.” So next time any of us have a tendency to make this claim I would stop and reflect on the true motive or intention of the claim, and turn inward to self improvement rather than trying to compensate for those feelings by tearing others down.

[BackBlast]

Here are some thoughts...

I believe there is a natural tendency in all people to want those around them to be at the same spiritual level that they are at. There is great comfort and companionship in this. I don't fault this base desire at all, I think it is conductive towards personal happiness and the base reason why there are degrees of glory and a separation in the life to come. That everyone can be at their peak happiness and among those who make them comfortable.

This also means that if those about you tend to be lower in spiritual status, one will try to raise them up. If someone around you is higher, one will naturally try to bring them down. We naturally engage in a leveling effect with our neighbors.

Avoiding tearing others down depends on us having a realistic view of our own condition. We need a good dose of humility to gain that view, so we can clearly see when we are tearing down or raising them up in our interactions. With less humility, the more likely someone is to believe that their condition is the right condition (even if horribly wrong) and will try to bring everyone else to their own level.

[dewajack]

This sounds harsh, and yet Christ dealt with this often and talked about it, although I'm not in a place to include the quotes, it simply comes down to honoring our father. Abel honored his father with his sacrifice and choices, whereas Cain also honored his father when he slew Abel. They had different fathers.

I should say here that not everyone that gives flak is this extreme. My example above is obviously extreme, and applies to those that plotted to kill Christ as well, although they didn't know it, they were honoring their father, Satan

[brianj]

Start losing weight and you'll get that. Start exercising to get into better shape and you'll get that. Start taking classes to improve your situation and you'll get that. It isn't just trying harder to live the commandments, you get it for trying to better yourself in any way.