Humility

What is humility? What is it really? 

Sometimes to understand what something is, it can be easier by starting with what it is not.What is something that isn't humility? In other words, what is the antithesis of humility?

PRIDE

"The central feature of pride is enmity—enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen. Enmity means “hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition."

-Ezra Taft Benson

*I love this quote. Pride is concerned about opinions and being "right", whereas humility seeks to peacefully go about doing what one knows to be right, even when one is misunderstood.*

"Contemplate the advantages of life in a society in which considerations of status were only secondary, where citizens were more concerned with their responsibilities than their rights, and where those in authority might even occasionally step forward and humbly acknowledge, “I could be wrong." 
Must our need to be “right” be so all-consuming? 
One wonders how differently even recent world history might be written if its principal participants had yielded to the gentle nudgings of humility." - Marlin K Jensen

In one of our sacrament hymns we sing:

"In humility, our Savior,

Grant thy Spirit here, we pray,

As we bless the bread and water

In thy name this holy day.

Let me not forget, O Savior,

Thou didst bleed and die for me

When thy heart was stilled and broken

On the cross at Calvary."

I think that if we want to develop greater humility, we need to remember the saviour and his sacrifice for us - there is truly nothing more humbling than thinking of that scene and the love for imperfect beings such as ourselves. These two verses from "I stand all amazed" always tug at my heartstrings and cause tears of gratitude and humility:

1. I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,
   Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.
   I tremble to know that for me he was crucified,
   That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.
2. I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine
   To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine,
   That he should extend his great love unto such as I,
   Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify.

Unfortunately, we often mistake humility for worthlessness.

Feeling worthless can be a natural response to sin, but it can also be a tool that the adversary uses to get us stuck in a cycle of feeling inferior. This inferiority complex is actually another form of pride, though we often neglect to see it as such. Of course you wouldn't go up to someone and say "oh you're feeling worthless? That just means you're being prideful!" 

Remember that without charity we are nothing. 

We must be sensitive and tactful, as mental health issues are often involved with feelings of worthlessness and are painful and complex.

But the bottom line (if you are wondering what humility REALLY is) is this:
If you think you are better than anyone else, or worse than anyone else - that is NOT humility.

Humility is knowing your divine nature, reverently recognising who you are in relationship to heavenly father, and striving valiantly to submit your will to His.

The LDS website states: "To be humble is to recognize gratefully our dependence on the Lord—to understand that we have constant need for His support. Humility is an acknowledgment that our talents and abilities are gifts from God. It is not a sign of weakness, timidity, or fear; it is an indication that we know where our true strength lies. 

We can be both humble and fearless. We can be both humble and courageous."

Another aspect of humility in comparison with pride, is that humility demonstrates an attitude leading toward infinite progression - because one recognises that there can always be more to learn, or knew ways to grow and progress. In contrast, one who is prideful will be certain that they have all the learning, growth and progression they need. 

"Pride is a damning sin in the true sense of that word. It limits or stops progression. The proud are not easily taught.  They won’t change their minds to accept truths, because to do so implies they have been wrong." - Ezra Taft Benson

C. S. Lewis wrote that "once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone" He stated that “pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, cleverer, or better-looking than others. If everyone else became equally rich, or clever, or good-looking there would be nothing to be proud about. It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest.”  

"Pride is essentially competitive in nature. We pit our will against God’s. When we direct our pride toward God, it is in the spirit of “my will and not thine be done.” As Paul said, they “seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's” (Phillip. 2:21) Our will in competition to God’s will allows desires, appetites, and passions to go unbridled." 
- Ezra Taft Benson

"Consider the climate that would exist within a marriage or family—or any organization, for that matter—if through genuine humility mistakes were freely admitted and forgiven, if we were not afraid to praise others for fear they might gain on us, and if all were able to listen as well as we now verbalize."

Another facet of pride is contention. Arguments, fights, unrighteous dominion, generation gaps, divorces, spouse abuse, riots, and disturbances all fall into this category of pride.

Contention in our families drives the Spirit of the Lord away. It also drives many of our family members away. Contention ranges from a hostile spoken word to worldwide conflicts. The scriptures tell us that “only by pride cometh contention.” (Prov 13:10)

PRIDE is SELFISH (concerned only with ourselves)
HUMILITY is SELFLESS (always seeking what we can do for others, together with the Lord) - *giving the best of ourselves also requires taking care of ourselves; rejuvenating and replenishing our needs*

"The selfish individual has a passion for the vertical pronoun I. Significantly, the vertical pronoun I has no knees to bend, while the first letter in the pronoun we does." - Neal A Maxwell

John Ruskin memorably stated that “the first test of a truly great man is his humility.” He continued: “I do not mean, by humility, doubt of his own power. … But really great men have a curious feeling that  greatness is not in them, but through them. And they see something Divine in every other man, and are endlessly merciful.”

Let us take the advice of Ezra Taft Benson and choose to be humble.
He suggests the following ways we can choose to humble ourselves:

• We can choose to humble ourselves by conquering enmity toward our brothers and sisters.

• We can choose to humble ourselves by receiving counsel and chastisement.

• We can choose to humble ourselves by forgiving those who have offended us.

• We can choose to humble ourselves by rendering selfless service.

• We can choose to humble ourselves by going on missions and preaching the word that can humble others.

• We can choose to humble ourselves by getting to the temple more frequently.

• We can choose to humble ourselves by confessing and forsaking our sins and being born of God.

• We can choose to humble ourselves by loving God, submitting our will to His, and putting Him first in our lives.

I add my testimony to the testimony of Ezra Taft Benson: "Let us choose to be humble. We can do it. I know we can." 

Through the help of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; by reflecting on his life and infinite atonement, by truly coming to know and love him - we can become humble and faithful servants of Almighty God.