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Have you ever stopped listening to someone because you were already too busy figuring out why they were wrong?

I have.

In this episode of Shadows, I’m looking at a form of pride that doesn’t always look like arrogance. Sometimes it looks like defensiveness. Sometimes it looks like needing to be heard. Sometimes it’s the satisfaction of being proven right—or the frustration of being right and never getting credit for it.

A simple conversation with my teenage son about his résumé forced me to look at how quickly disagreement can feel like disrespect. And the more I reflected on it, the more I began recognizing the same pattern in my marriage, my parenting, my work, and even the way I respond when someone challenges something I’m certain about.

Through the Old Testament story of Naaman, we’ll explore what can happen when we leave enough room in our certainty to ask one uncomfortable question:

What if I’m wrong?

Humility doesn’t mean abandoning everything we know or assuming everyone else is right. Sometimes it simply means becoming willing to listen long enough to discover what we might not be seeing.

And maybe one of the hardest questions we can ask ourselves isn’t, “Why won’t they listen to me?”

Maybe it’s:

“Lord…is it I?”

Scriptures & References

2 Kings 5:1–14 — Naaman and Elisha
Naaman initially rejects Elisha’s instruction in anger, but after listening to the counsel of his servants, he washes seven times in the Jordan and is healed.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — 2 Kings 5

Proverbs 12:15 — Receiving Counsel
“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.”
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — Proverbs 12

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf — “Lord, Is It I?”
October 2014 General Conference. President Uchtdorf teaches about looking inward, setting aside pride, and humbly asking whether we ourselves need to change.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — “Lord, Is It I?”