Sources of humility

When Alma preached to the Zoramites, there was a group of poor Zoramites that came, wanting to know how to worship God since they weren’t allowed in the synagogues. I like how Alma took their difficulty and showed how it worked to their spiritual advantage.

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. (Alma 32:12)

While we would recognize that casting someone out of a synagogue is a painful rejection, for the Zoramites it became a good thing because it humbled them.  It established their consciousness of the need for worship, and it made them ask questions about how to worship after they’d been rejected.  It brought them to humility and a desire to learn (meekness).

This caused me to realize that just like those poor Zoramites were brought to humility by some painful circumstances, we all have something in our lives that can act as a humbling agent, something that makes us feel less than.  I think these circumstances can help us learn humility and then learn greater wisdom.

Of course, Alma goes on to say that sometimes when a person is compelled to be humble they then seek repentance, but that those who humble themselves because of the word and repent and endure to the end are more blessed.  

Just think, if we could only be humbled by circumstance, then our spiritual growth would be dependent upon the number of difficult and painful experiences in our lives. 

I really like how it suggests that we can humble ourselves because of the word of God.  Everything we learn about in the gospel is an opportunity to humble ourselves and submit to the Lord.  Choosing to obey is essentially a choice to be humble.  If we can do that, then our spiritual growth can be much quicker.

So this brings us to the question – what words of God have humbled you recently?  What doctrines have brought you to a consciousness of your need for God?  You don’t have to comment if you don’t want to, but I’d love to hear your thoughts.

I personally have realized that I have some problems with pride, vanity, and boasting.  (Hence the series of posts I did about boasting.)