Choosing to be humble is much better than being forced to be humble. Humility is freedom from pride or arrogance. We start by not being prideful. Being proud is the opposite of humility. We live in a world of prideful people. “Be thou humble and the Lord will lead thee… to love.” (D&C 112:10-11) Remember, a humble heart gladly receives truth from anywhere!
The prideful elite, who are trying to take over the world, are a major case in point. Most of them are atheists. They often say, “Look to the science,” with the inference that we don’t need God. And their science is often distorted. We have many examples throughout history when people have been forced to be humble. Often the Lord has major lessons for them to learn in their humiliation.
The global elitists in their pride will be destroyed at the Lord’s coming. They will have to wait until the end of the millennium to accept the Savior, whom they will gladly accept when they are given a view of the grand plan of our Loving Heavenly Father. Those who chose not to accept the Lord will suffer a second death—outer darkness.
Blessed Are the Humble
Blessed are the humble, who are pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Matt. 5:8)
Blessed are those who humble themselves and hearken to His voice and call on Him in mighty prayer for they shall be gathered as a hen gathers her chickens. (D&C 29:1-2)
Blessed are the humble for the Lord shall “Lead thee by the hand and give thee answer to thy prayers.” (D&C 112:10)
Here are some significant historical examples of those who have been compelled to be humble, and we see the enormous consequences. Consider for example the Japanese. In August 1945, the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought about the Japanese surrender. It brought a very proud and arrogant people–seventy million–to humiliation.
General Douglas MacArthur’s kindness to them—helping them to rebuild after the war—brought many changes to their society. Their quality control and industrial development improved dramatically. They became open to Christianity. I have been privileged to work with several Japanese, and I find them very kind and very smart.
Before the Japanese surrender, they were an enormous military threat to the Chinese nationalists. They were prideful and militant and malicious to the Chinese and destroyed many cities. I just finished reading the amazing life story of Gladys May Aylward as a Christian missionary in China during that time. Gladys Aylward – Wikipedia
She tells how she was brutally kicked by them—causing severe internal organ damage and was also shot by them. Her story is told in the book, The Little Woman, and a movie tells her incredible story as well, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness. Ingrid Bergman plays her part. She marched a hundred orphaned Chinese children over two mountain ranges to get them to safety. Unbelievable journey and she lost none of them.
The Lord Used Humble Circumstances to Bring About Great Good In South Korea
The Koreans were subjugated and humbled by the Japanese as well. The Japanese surrender brought about freedom for South Korea
Now South Korea has the strongest economy on the planet. They use a version of the Talmud reportedly hoping to emulate the Jews’ high academic standards by studying Jewish literature. Almost every household has a translated copy of a book they call “Talmud”, which parents read to their children, and the book is part of the primary-school curriculum. In 1974, Marvin Tokayer, an Orthodox American Rabbi, produced in the South Korean language the first collaborative book, 5,000 Years of Jewish Wisdom: Secrets of the Talmud Scriptures.
Per country size, they visit my book’s website more than any other country including the USA. Per country size, S. Korea is twice the USA in page views on my book’s website www.ItsAboutTimeBook.com. The original Talmud is the rabbinical wisdom as they have expounded the five books of Moses (Torah) often using Hebrew Midrash methodology. We had Sam Chung, a South Korean guest worker at our lab in Boulder—a very kind and smart gentleman.
Beginning in the 1940s, Latter-day Saints serving in the United States military began holding meetings in South Korea. In 1951 Kim Ho Jik converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, while doing his graduate work at Cornell University. He returned to Korea and began working with servicemen to preach the gospel to those in his country. Once the Book of Mormon had been published in Korean, their conversion rate increased dramatically.
Even as the Korean War raged, many were baptized. A year after the war ended in 1953, a Korean-speaking Sunday School was organized. By the mid-1960s, thousands had accepted the restored gospel. In 1973 the Seoul Korea Stake, the first stake in mainland Asia, was organized. Korean Saints had a strong desire to participate in temple ordinances for themselves and their ancestors. Their conversion rate is 33% higher than the Church’s average
The Humiliation of the Israelites and Consequences
The Lord seriously got the attention of the Israelites with their forty years in the wilderness. As they came out of Egypt, the Lord invited them to go into the promised land and to trust in Him. He sent spies from each of the Twelve tribes, and they came back sharing the abundance that was available in the “promised land.” But all but Joshua and Caleb had fear about going in because of the giants in the land. Not trusting in the Lord, they felt they would be destroyed. Only Joshua and Caleb gave a good report and said we can go in because we trust in Lord.
Because they failed to trust in the Lord, He humbled them in a major way. We read in Deuteronomy Chapter 8:
- 2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
- 3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
Because of their lack of trust in the Lord, only Joshua and Caleb and their children who were born during those forty years were allowed into the promised land.
Choosing to be Humble is the Best Way
Alma shares the great lesson that if we can be humble without being compelled to be humble, then we are much better off: Alma 32:6, 12-16:
And now when Alma heard this,… with great joy; for he beheld that their afflictions had truly humbled them and that they were in a preparation to hear the word. 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.
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.
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? 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.
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.
We see the great importance of choosing to be humble: “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.” (Ether 12:27)
The Importance of Humility
The Prophet Micah Shares the Importance of Humility. He summarizes it profoundly: “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8) This was Lowell Bennion’s favorite scripture. Lowell Bennion was one of the great LDS famous teachers at the University of Utah.
My Favorite Scripture Includes Humility
Matt. 22:37-40. “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Living these two great commandments is the pathway to fullness of JOY and Eternal Life, as well as the solution to all the world’s problems. Being meek, humble, and pure in heart is encapsulated therein.
May we lovingly and humbly live and share the glorious truths of the fullness of the gospel, I pray. Then are we making Heavenly Father most pleased: (Moses 1:39; John 15:8). That loving humble path leads to a fullness of JOY and ETERNAL LIFE. Heavenly Father’s infinite love for us is beyond are comprehension and is His primary motivation. And again, a humble heart gladly receives truth from anywhere!
David W. Allan
Photo: CC Flickr Humility