“When you humbly trust Him and acknowledge His power and mercy, you can have the assurance that His commandments are for your good.”
“You are confident that you can do whatever the Lord requires of you if you rely on Him. You are also willing to trust His chosen servants and follow their counsel.”
“Humility will help you as you strive to be obedient, to work hard, and serve selflessly.”
The followings are the scriptures and passages that related to the blessings that we would receive when we humbled ourselves:
Alma 32:1-16
1 And it came to pass that they did go forth, and began to preach the word of God unto the people, entering into their synagogues, and into their houses; yea, and even they did preach the word in their streets.
2 And it came to pass that after much labour among them, they began to have success among the poor class of people; for behold, they were cast out of the synagogues because of the coarseness of their apparel—
3 Therefore they were not permitted to enter into their synagogues to worship God, being esteemed as filthiness; therefore they were poor; yea, they were esteemed by their brethren as dross; therefore they were poor as to things of the world; and also they were poor in heart.
4 Now, as Alma was teaching and speaking unto the people upon the hill Onidah, there came a great multitude unto him, who were those of whom we have been speaking, of whom were poor in heart, because of their poverty as to the things of the world.
5 And they came unto Alma; and the one who was the foremost among them said unto him: Behold, what shall these my brethren do, for they are despised of all men because of their poverty, yea, and more especially by our priests; for they have cast us out of our synagogues which we have laboured abundantly to build with our own hands; and they have cast us out because of our exceeding poverty; and we have no place to worship our God; and behold, what shall we do?
6 And now when Alma heard this, he turned him about, his face immediately towards him, and he beheld with great joy; for he beheld that their afflictions had truly humbled them, and that they were in a preparation to hear the word.
7 Therefore he did say no more to the other multitude; but he stretched forth his hand, and cried unto those whom he beheld, who were truly penitent, and said unto them:
8 I behold that ye are lowly in heart; and if so, blessed are ye.
9 Behold thy brother hath said, What shall we do?—for we are cast out of our synagogues, that we cannot worship our God.
10 Behold I say unto you, do ye suppose that ye cannot worship God save it be in your synagogues only?
11 And moreover, I would ask, do ye suppose that ye must not worship God only once in a week?
12 I say unto you, it is well that ye are cast out of your synagogues, that ye may be humble, and that ye may learn wisdom; for it is necessary that ye should learn wisdom; for it is because that ye are cast out, that ye are despised of your brethren because of your exceeding poverty, that ye are brought to a lowliness of heart; for ye are necessarily brought to be humble.
13 And now, because ye are compelled to be humble blessed are ye; for a man sometimes, if he is compelled to be humble, seeketh repentance; and now surely, whosoever repenteth shall find mercy; and he that findeth mercy and endureth to the end the same shall be saved.
14 And now, as I said unto you, that because ye were compelled to be humble ye were blessed, do ye not suppose that they are more blessed who truly humble themselves because of the word?
15 Yea, he that truly humbleth himself, and repenteth of his sins, and endureth to the end, the same shall be blessed—yea, much more blessed than they who are compelled to be humble because of their exceeding poverty.
16 Therefore, blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble; or rather, in other words, blessed is he that believeth in the word of God, and is baptized without stubbornness of heart, yea, without being brought to know the word, or even compelled to know, before they will believe.
Humility prepares us to receive the word of God. Humility and a willingness to receive the word of God are essential in the process of receiving and strengthening a testimony because the humbling experience could lead us to repentance and salvation.
Alma also taught that choosing to be humble is better than being compelled to be humble.
President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994) described ways that we could humble ourselves and avoid the trials that sometimes accompany being compelled to be humble:
“We can choose to humble ourselves by conquering enmity toward our brothers and sisters, esteeming them as ourselves, and lifting them as high or higher than we are (see D&C 38:24; 81:5; 84:106).
“We can choose to humble ourselves by receiving counsel and chastisement (see Jacob 4:10; Helaman 15:3; D&C 63:55; 101:4–5; 108:1; 124:61, 84; 136:31; Proverbs 9:8).
“We can choose to humble ourselves by forgiving those who have offended us (see 3 Nephi 13:11, 14; D&C 64:10).
“We can choose to humble ourselves by rendering selfless service (see Mosiah 2:16–17).
“We can choose to humble ourselves by going on missions and preaching the word that can humble others (see Alma 4:19; 31:5; 48:20).
“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 (see D&C 58:43; Mosiah 27:25–26; Alma 5:7–14, 49).
“We can choose to humble ourselves by loving God, submitting our will to His, and putting Him first in our lives (see 3 Nephi 11:11; 13:33; Moroni 10:32)” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1989, 6; or Ensign, May 1989, 6–7).
Ether 12:27
27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
If we come unto Jesus Christ, then he will show us our weakness. Some things we can do to come unto Jesus Christ include we can pray, fast, repent, study the scriptures, participate in temple worship, serve others, and seek to develop Christlike attributes.
The Lord gives us weaknesses to help us humble that we may draw upon His grace. If we humble ourselves and exercise faith in the Lord, then he will take weak things become strong unto us.
The application of the principle taught in Ether 12:27 as followings:
- Recognize a weakness I feel I have
- A way I can humble myself
- A way I can exercise faith in Jesus Christ so I can receive His help, or grace, to overcome the weakness I have listed.
D&C 12:8
8 And no one can assist in this work except he shall be humble and full of love, having faith, hope, and charity, being temperate in all things, whatsoever shall be entrusted to his care.
The characteristics the Lord require of those who want to assist in His work includes being humble, full of love, having faith, hope and charity and being temperate in all things. I can learn to developing all these characteristics in my life.
D&C 67:10
10 And again, verily I say unto you that it is your privilege, and a promise I give unto you that have been ordained unto this ministry, that inasmuch as you strip yourselves from jealousies and fears, and humble yourselves before me, for ye are not sufficiently humble, the veil shall be rent and you shall see me and know that I am—not with the carnal neither natural mind, but with the spiritual.
If we strip ourselves of jealousy and fear, humble ourselves, and continue in patience, we will be able to abide the presence of God.
D&C 112:10
10 Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers.
If we are humble, the Lord will lead us and give us answers to our prayers.
D&C 136:32-33
32 Let him that is ignorant learn wisdom by humbling himself and calling upon the Lord his God, that his eyes may be opened that he may see, and his ears opened that he may hear;
33 For my Spirit is sent forth into the world to enlighten the humble and contrite, and to the condemnation of the ungodly.
If we humble ourselves and call upon God, then the Spirit will enlighten us.
Matthew 23:12
12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
Jesus taught the people that, if we seek to exalt ourselves above others, we will be abased. Abased means to be lowered or humiliated or to become less respected. Jesus also taught that, if we are humble and serve others, the Lord will exalt us. The phrase “shall be exalted” implies that the Lord will lift us up, help us become more like Him, and grant us exaltation in the celestial kingdom.
From this verse of scripture teach me that being humble can help me overcome hypocrisy and I need to try to serve others and do not seek recognition instead of the other way round would help me become more like Jesus Christ.
Thus, set a goal to serve daily would be a way how I can learn more about this attribute of Jesus Christ and write about these experience in the journal.
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