10 ways to develop sincere humility

There are many reasons why we need humility, but how can we have humility? This list offers ten ways we can develop sincere humility.

01
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Become a small child

One of the most important ways we can have humility was taught by Jesus Christ:

“And Jesus called a small child for him, and placed him among them
"And he said: Truly I say to you, if you do not convert and become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
"Whoever humbles himself like this little child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18: 2-4).

02
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Humility is a choice
Whether we have pride or humility, it is an individual choice we make. An example in the Bible is of Pharoah, who chose to be proud.

"And Moses and Aaron entered Pharaoh and said to him: So says the Lord God of the Jews, how long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?" (Exodus 10: 3).
The Lord has given us free will and will not take it away, not even to make us humble. Even though we may be forced to be humble (see # 4 below), actually being humble (or not) will always be a choice we have to make.

03
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Humility through the Atonement of Christ
The atonement of Jesus Christ is the ultimate way in which we must receive the blessing of humility. It is through His sacrifice that we are able to overcome our natural, fallen state, as taught in the Book of Mormon:

"Because the natural man is an enemy of God, and has been since the fall of Adam, and he will be, forever and always, unless he yields to the attractions of the Holy Spirit, and turns off the natural man and becomes a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becoming a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all the things that the Lord considers suitable to inflict on him, even if a child submits to his father "( Mosiah 3:19).
Without Christ, it would be impossible for us to have humility.

04
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Forced to be humble
The Lord often allows trials and suffering to enter our lives to force us to be humble, as with the children of Israel:

"And you will remember for all the way the Lord your God has guided you in these forty years in the desert, to humiliate you and to show you, to know what was in your heart, whether you kept his commandments or not" (Deut 8: 2).
“Therefore, blessed are those who humble themselves without being forced to be humble; or rather, in other words, blessed is he who believes in the word of God ... yes, without being led to know the word, or even forced to know, before they believe "(Alma 32:16).
Which would you prefer?

05
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Humility through prayer and faith
We can ask God for humility through the prayer of faith.

"And again I tell you, as I said before, that as you came to know the glory of God ... even so I would like you to remember, and always keep in your memory, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy and humble creatures even in the depths of humility, invoking the name of the Lord every day and remaining firmly in the faith of what will come. "(Mosiah 4:11).

it is also an act of humility as we kneel and submit to his will.

06
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Humility from fasting
Fasting is an excellent way to build humility. Giving up our physical need for sustenance can direct us to be more spiritual if we focus on our humility and not on the fact that we are hungry.

"But as far as I am concerned, when they were sick, my clothes were made of canvas: I humiliated my soul with fasting and my prayer returned to my bosom" (Psalms 35:13).
Fasting may seem difficult, but that's what makes it such a powerful tool. The donation of money (equivalent to the food you would have eaten) to the poor and needy is called a quick offer (see the law of tithing) and is an act of humility.

07
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Humility: fruit of the spirit
Humility also comes through the power of the Holy Ghost. As Galatians 5: 22-23 teaches, three of the "fruits" are all part of humility:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, suffering, sweetness, goodness, faith,
"Gentleness, temperance ..." (emphasis added).
Part of the process of seeking the guiding influence of the Holy Ghost is the development of sincere humility. If you have difficulty being humble, you can choose to be longsuffering with someone who often tries your patience. If you fail, try, try, try again!

08
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Count your blessings
This is such a simple, yet effective technique. As we take the time to count each of our blessings, we will become more aware of all that God has done for us. This awareness alone helps us to be more humble. Counting our blessings will also help us recognize how much we depend on our Father.

One way to do this is to set aside a certain period of time (maybe 30 minutes) and write down a list of all your blessings. If you get stuck, be more specific by specifying each of your blessings. Another technique is to count your blessings every day, for example in the morning when you get up for the first time or at night. Before going to sleep, think about all the blessings you received that day. You will be surprised at how focusing on having a grateful heart will help you reduce pride.

09
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Stop comparing yourself to others
CS Lewis said:

"Pride leads to every other vice ... Pride does not like having something, only having more than the next man. Let's say people are proud to be rich, intelligent or good-looking, but they are not. They pride themselves on being richer, smarter, or good-looking than others. If everyone else became equally wealthy, intelligent, or handsome, there would be nothing to be proud of. It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above others. Once the element of competition is gone, pride is gone "(Mere Christianity, (HarperCollins Ed 2001), 122).
To have humility we must stop comparing ourselves to others, since it is impossible to be humble while putting ourselves on top of the other.

10
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Weaknesses develop humility
Just as "weaknesses become strengths" is one of the reasons we need humility, it is also one of the ways we can develop humility.

“And if men come to me, I will show them their weakness. I will give men weakness so that they can be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men who humble themselves before me; because if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then I will make weak things stronger for them "(Ether 12:27).
Weaknesses are certainly not funny, but the Lord allows us to suffer and humiliate ourselves so that we can become strong.

Like most things, the development of humility is a process, but when we use the tools of fasting, prayer and faith we will find peace as we choose to humble ourselves through the Atonement of Christ.