I Am a Man

It’s impossible to be objective about ourselves, but we ought to try.

When Alma asks if we will “persist in supposing that [we] are better one than another,” he was describing a fundamental human tendency. We want to be excellent, and we sometimes amplify the evidence of our abilities while minimizing the evidence of our weakness.

This distortion can have real implications in our behavior. Jacob rebuked the wealthy among his people, saying, “ye…persecute your brethren because ye suppose that ye are better than they” (Jacob 2:13). He asked, “Do ye not suppose that such things are abominable unto him who created all flesh?” And he added, “The one being is as precious in his sight as the other. And all flesh is of the dust” (Jacob 2:21).

We see many examples in the scriptures of servants of God reminding themselves and the people around them that they are human. Here are a few examples:

• After Alma expressed his desire to be an angel, he corrected himself: “But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me” (Alma 29:3).
• When Nephi’s older brothers experienced the power of God through him, they fell to the ground and were were about to worship him. He told them to stop, saying, “I am thy brother, yea, even thy younger brother; wherefore, worship the Lord thy God, and honor thy father and thy mother” (1 Nephi 17:55).
• As Ammon spoke with King Lamoni after performing an extraordinary miracle, he encouraged the king not to attribute this power to him. “Behold, I am a man,” he said, “and am thy servant” (Alma 18:17). When the king asked if God had sent him, Ammon again clarified, “I am a man; and man in the beginning was created after the image of God, and I am called by his Holy Spirit to teach these things unto this people” (Alma 18:34).
• As Peter approached the home of the Roman centurion Cornelius, the centurion “fell down at his feet, and worshipped him” (Acts 10:25). An angel had told him to seek instruction from Peter, so he knew that Peter was a servant of God. In response, Peter said, “Stand up; I myself also am a man” (Acts 10:26).
• When Paul healed a man in the city of Lystra, the people were so amazed that they treated him and his companion, Barnabas, like gods. The local priest gathered the people to offer sacrifice to them, when Paul and Barnabas disrupted the ceremony, crying, “Why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you” (Acts 14:15).

When Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf was called to serve as a leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he received some advice from a fellow leader, James E. Faust. Members of the church “will treat you very kindly,” said President Faust. “They will say nice things about you. Dieter, be thankful for this. But don’t you ever inhale it” (“Pride and the Priesthood,” General Conference, October 2010).

Today, I will strive to see myself as equal with the people around me. I will remember that I am human and will avoid overestimating my strengths and underestimating my weaknesses. I will be grateful when other people treat me kindly, but I will not allow my self-image to be distorted by that kindness.

Note: Shortly after writing this post, I attended a work meeting in which someone said, “Only Paul Anderson can do this work.” How grateful I was for this post! I was able to reassure the team (and myself) that I’m really not that special, that there are plenty of other people who can help with the project I’m working on.