Self-sufficiency seems a noble goal and worthy of pursuit, but it can also be deceptively destructive if it prevents us from developing the proper dependence upon Christ, which he has declared essential to winning our battles.
Steven A. Cramer, “Armed With Righteousness”
As I go throughout my life and when I make good choices, it's rather easy to put my focus on myself. I accomplished this or that, afterall. And, when I make wrong choices, it is because I put my focus on myself. See a common denominator here?
It seems that when I focus on being self-sufficient, even in the gospel with gospel activities, my focus becomes all about me.
When I put the focus on myself, I worry about things that "I" need to be doing. Things that are not bad at all, but the focus is on me to be self-sufficient. Things like studying the scriptures, praying, going to church or the temple, etc. I become so focused on doing those things, I stop paying attention to "why" I'm doing those things.
Maybe I'm not expressing sufficiently what is going on in my head.
I need to be careful that I do those little things out of love and not out of a sense of duty. Focusing on my own actions, even though those actions may be good, that focus is what Satan wants from me, because it will lead to self-centeredness and not Christ-centeredness, which is, of course, a fruit of pride, or enmity towards God.