What Does It Mean to Be Humble & How Can I Be More Humble?

To me, being humble means being grateful, but I’m sure there’s more to it than that.

Who in the scriptures was known as someone who was humble?

• Jesus Christ
• Moses
• Ammon
• Alma the Younger
• Job
• Nephi
• Captain Moroni
• Lehi

These are some that come to mind.

What did they do to show their humility?

How did they manifest it? or did they?

Christ was the perfect example of humility. What did He do to show it?

Here are some scriptures I found:

Matt. 26:39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and ^aprayed, saying, O my ^bFather, if it be possible, let this ^ccup pass from me: nevertheless not as I ^dwill, but as ^ethou ^fwilt.

This is what we talked about and read about last night at group. This is Step 3 – submitting my will to God.

Christ fell on his face and prayed; He asked for help, and He submitted His will to the will of the Father.

This scripture is really interesting, especially coming from Christ:

30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is ^ajust; because I seek not mine own ^bwill, but the ^cwill of the Father which hath sent me.

To me, this means that Christ, as a mortal, could do nothing without the help and strength of God. He had to submit His will to God in all things, just as He encourages me to do.

When I cross-referenced will I found this scripture:

7  Know ye not that he was holy? But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments.

This scripture alone is the answer – Christ was OBEDIENT. OBEDIENCE is one direct way I can show humility. If I’m obedient, I’m striving to DO the will of Him that sent me. I’m not thinking in my heart, “Sure, that’s fine and all, but I’m going to do things a different way.” No, that’s the OPPOSITE of humility – that’s pride. And that’s a core issue when I’m in my addiction.

Instead, I want to do all I can to recognize what God wants me to do and then DO IT as best as I can, asking for His help always. Because, ultimately, I know that I am nothing and I can’t do this by myself.

8  Wherefore, after he was baptized with water the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove.

9  And again, it showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which they should enter, he having set the example before them.

10  And he said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?

One of my favorite scriptures about recovery:

19 For the ^anatural ^bman is an ^cenemy to God, and has been from the ^dfall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he ^eyields to the enticings of the ^fHoly Spirit, and ^gputteth off the ^hnatural man and becometh a ⁱsaint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a ^jchild, ^ksubmissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

I could substitute “natural man” in this scripture with “addicted man.” As I’ve learned, the addiction will always be there. But I have to “yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the addict or carnal man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord (by working the 12 steps of recovery), and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all the things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon me, even as a child doth submit to his father.”

As I think about this, as a father, I’m never going to inflict anything on my kids to harm them or make life more difficult. I do give them things to do that can be hard in an effort to help them grow and progress, but I am there to help them, to hold their hand, and to strengthen them.

God is the same way except that He’s perfect, He’s more patient, He knows what I need before I even need it.

It reminds me of helping Caleb with his basketball shot: I have been in his shoes, I know what it takes now to develop a good shot. It takes study of others who have great shots, it takes practice and understanding of the fundamentals, and it takes repetition of doing it the correct way.

I want to help him. I want to guide him. But the only way I can truly help is if he’s willing to humble himself, listen, and obey. If he gets defensive, thinks he has it figured out, and thinks he can do it his own way, it will be hard for me to guide him in the way I’d like to.

I think my relationship with God is probably very similar. I have to stop and listen and be willing to be guided and directed. I have to trust that He knows what is going to be best for me – both spiritual things and also temporal things. I have to want to believe and then do His will.

I’m grateful for a better understanding today.

“…humbly submitting our will to the Father brings us the empowerment of God—the power of humility. It is the power to meet life’s adversities, the power of peace, the power of hope, the power of a heart throbbing with a love for and testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ, even the power of redemption.”³

Here’s to a day in recovery!

Hasta luego!

Nate