Love Month

According to the LGBT community, June is Pride Month. In my community, however, the word "pride" has a negative connotation. Pride is associated with negative personality traits, such as self-centeredness and egomania. A proud person is arrogant, boastful, and full of themselves. I believe that much of our issue with pride stems from President Ezra Taft Benson's well-known talk, Beware of Pride. In it, he spoke against pride in some of the strongest language I've ever heard a prophet use: "Pride is the universal sin, the great vice." And he repeated it for emphasis: "Yes, pride is the universal sin, the great vice."

Yet, I know personally that not all members of the LGBT community are guilty of the sin of pride. That's why I prefer not to think of June as "Pride Month." Instead, I'd rather think of June as "Love Month."

While we see pride as "the universal sin, the great vice," we see love as the central element of the first two great commandments and the first great truth of all eternity. Love is a good thing. Love is open and welcoming. Love is kind.

And, importantly, love does not need to be romantic, let alone sexual. The Greeks have several words for love, and "eros" is only one of them. The many types and expressions of love also include brotherly love, familial love, the love we have for God, the love God has for us, and love toward all mankind. Love can be platonic, and we should have that kind of love toward everyone, and we should appreciate that people of the same gender can have that kind of love for each other.

So, this month and always, let's try to show love for each other and for everyone, even with the people with whom we disagree. We may not approve of all of their actions, but we can still love them, and we can appreciate all that is good in the love they have for each other. Let us not pridefully say that our way of life is better than theirs, that our expressions of love are purer than theirs, or that we are bound for heaven while they are bound for hell. It's not our place to judge. Instead, let us love them with the same kind of love God has for us. God wants us to love each other. So, this month and always, let's let go of our pride and instead show our love.