- Be thankful. Look for things to be thankful for, and focus more thoughts on why certain things deserve gratitude. Among the things to remember most often are the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the personal miracles He's given me in my life.
- Look for the good in others. Rather than thinking about my wants and needs, look first to be interested in others, and find praiseworthy things in their behavior and character. Praise them. As I do this my love for others grows.
- Repent constantly. Mistakes happen everyday. How long should I wait to apologize to God and promise to do better? As soon as I recognize the error, that is the time to repent. Repent every day, every hour, every minute as necessary.
- Seek the Lord's will. In everything I do, try to keep a prayer in my heart, seeking to do what He would have me do, regardless of my own preferences or even my own convictions.
- Pray for it. At times the response will be difficult. Other times the answer will be tender and sweet. Be ready to accept whatever answer the Lord gives--be willing to do whatever He recommends.
- Serve others. One of the best ways to improve myself is to act like I would if I were already the kind of person I want to become--practice makes perfect. Humble people are always in the service of others.
Humility brings inner peace and peace to those around you. Sometimes we are compelled to be humble because of life experiences, but the Lord is most pleased when we choose to be humble of our own free will. But gaining humility is not as easy as simply deciding not to be prideful. It takes effort. Below are some methods I've found to be helpful in building and maintaining humility:
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Pride has oft been named the universal sin. There is an unselfish pride, which is sharing joy in others' progression. Selfish pride, however, seems to be a challenge for everyone to varying degrees.
How can we identify good versus bad pride? One tell-tale sign of selfish pride is competition: "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 every one 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. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone." -C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1960), 95. "[The feminist movement] somehow managed to turn abortion into a 'woman’s issue' framed as 'reproductive rights.' ... But, it’s not a woman’s issue. It’s a person issue, a humanity issue. It is whether or not we, as a people, will continue to sanction the killing of our unborn.
"The fact that women are the ones who carry and bear life is not some patriarchal oppressive scheme.... It’s part of being life-bearers and nurturers and, with that, comes responsibility. The great gift called Motherhood should be honored. It should not be demeaned as a punishment. And it should never be used as a pawn nor a tool to try to further entrench women into the belief that they are of an oppressed victim status." -Taken from an article by Lori Ziganto at Redstate It goes by many names--reborn, born again, born of God, change of heart-- but how do I know if I've been spiritually reborn?
Long ago, one group of Christians defined this change. They claimed they had a change of heart, "that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually." Their desires changed so much that they wanted to serve, love, and live like Christ would, and did not have even a desire for the pleasures of the world such as lust and selfishness. This desire to do God's will at all times seems to largely define a spiritual rebirth. Those who are reborn don't seem to want to just repent of a single sin; rather they want to repent from sinning. What are my desires? At times my heart hungers and thirsts after righteousness, and I abhor all selfishness and pride. But that change doesn't always last, at least not to the extent it should. Too easily I fail to find ways to serve others, to think only uplifting thoughts, to be everything He wants me to be. And once again, I turn to God, seeking to be spiritually reborn. Many claim that people are inherently bad, or in other words, that most people are born with an innate tendency to be evil if left to themselves.
God is perfect in every way. The idea that God's offspring are inherently bad seems to be a contradiction. Shouldn't His children reflect something of He from whom they came? A sprout from a seed produced by a fully grown fruit tree is unlikely to immediately produce fruit. All it seems to do is consume and give nothing in return, depriving surrounding plant life of water and nutrients. Yet the sprout has potential to become like that from which it came. People are not trees. But they are not inherently bad, rather they are born weak, but with potential for great good. Weakness is not evil by itself. But along with weakness, we are born into an ignorant world, where all consequences of every action are not clear. Our own potential and the potential of others seems fuzzy and uncertain. Weakness combined with an unclear view makes sin more enticing than it would otherwise be. Some are overcome by their own weakness. They decide to give in to the enticement of sin, and they choose the evil path. Though they are beaten, they were not born predestined to be beaten. We each have the freedom to choose good or evil constantly, every day. Every time we choose good, we grow just a little bit more. Defying our weakness, we can become strong. We can become like Him from Whom we came. "Some say God is incomprehensible. He says that to know Him is life eternal. The one takes hope out of life. The other is an eternal beacon."
-Hugh B. Brown, links added Eli was supposed to be the servant of God. He allowed His sons to use their positions in the priesthood to commit terrible sins. He did not restrain them or remove them from their place. The scriptures indicate he believed in the Lord. He expressed fear when He was warned to restrain his sons. When Samuel revealed that the Lord would cut off Eli and his house, Eli appeared to believe and accept it.
Eli believed. But he did not believe enough to act. He and his family were cut off from the Lord. Of course faith in Christ is a requirement--we cannot be saved without an atonement for our sins, nor can our hearts become pure without Him. But does faith alone bring salvation? Eli's story seems to indicate that faith without works is not enough. And yet, though Eli believed, he plainly didn't have very strong faith, or at least it wasn't strong enough to act. Other scriptural examples such as Moses, Joshua, Peter and others seem to show that when faith is acted on, it gets stronger. Peter's faith in Christ seemed to grow with every challenge that he overcame. Trying then to separate faith from works is a difficult venture. Faith without works is weak and seems to dwindle. Faith with works grows and flourishes. How strong must my faith be if I am to gain eternal life with my Heavenly Father and His Son? Christ commands me to become even as He is, and He has perfect faith. Eventually my faith must become that strong. Looks like I have a lot of work to do. |
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