Week # 18
HUMILITY
"If the Lord was meek and lowly and humble, then to become humble one must do what he did in boldly denouncing evil, bravely advancing righteous work, courageously meeting every problem, becoming the master of himself and the situations about him and being near oblivious of personal credit. . . . Humility is not pretentious, presumptuous or proud. it is not weak, vacillating, or servile." (Spencer W. Kimball, "Humility, " Improvement Era, Aug. 1963, p. 656).
Questions and Activities
HUMILITY
"If the Lord was meek and lowly and humble, then to become humble one must do what he did in boldly denouncing evil, bravely advancing righteous work, courageously meeting every problem, becoming the master of himself and the situations about him and being near oblivious of personal credit. . . . Humility is not pretentious, presumptuous or proud. it is not weak, vacillating, or servile." (Spencer W. Kimball, "Humility, " Improvement Era, Aug. 1963, p. 656).
Questions and Activities
- What are the qualities of a humble person?
- Why does the Lord require us to be humble?
- What role does humility play in the conversion process? In the repentance process?
- What blessings have been promised those who humble themselves before the Lord?
- Find instances in the scriptures where the Lord gave men experiences to make them humble. Compare them with modern examples.
- Recall examples from the scriptures in which prophets became powerful and great because of their humility before the Lord.
- What experiences in your life have helped and are currently helping you learn humility?
- What are you doing to show the Lord your humility?
Topical Guide
Contrite Heart
Heart
Humility, Humble
Meek, Meekness
Poor in Spirit
Pride
Submissiveness, Submit
Teachable
Scriptures
1 Nephi 8
Mosiah 2:24-27; 3
Alma 26:11-12; 32:1-16; 38:13-15
3 Nephi 12:5
Ether 12:26-27
D&C 19:20; 112:10
Proverbs 3:5-12
Moses 6:26-47
Other Sources
Jesus the Christ, chapter 17
I observed as a child the quality of "servile" in a person and thought they were very generous and kind. This quote has helped me see it better. I looked up the word and found this definition:
ReplyDeleteServile, Adjective: 1. Having or showing an excessive willingness to serve or please others.
2. Of or characteristic of a slave or slaves.
As I think about that meaning I wonder why it is not considered humility. I suppose the reason could be that if we give up our will to those around us we are incapable of standing for what we believe is right, because we already gave up our right to think and do when we chose to make pleasing others a prime focus. No, it is better to please God and ourselves by honoring truth. It takes courage to do that. Servility does not. It can be a victim's way of avoiding the responsibility of doing the right thing for the right reason.
Just a thought...What do you guys think?