Cultivating humility

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Ievita

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hello everyone!

Does anybody have any good tips or advice on how to cultivate humility (how to become a more humble person)? Would appreciate advice on that! Thanks in advance!
 
Ievita said:
hello everyone!

Does anybody have any good tips or advice on how to cultivate humility (how to become a more humble person)? Would appreciate advice on that! Thanks in advance!
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obedience to your superiors and legitimate authority, and especially to God’s law and the Church, immediate, willing, without grumbling, without resentment. This is the prescription of the holy rule of our Father Benedict
 
Good advice from puzzleannie. I also like this gem I found on a blog a while back:
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta gave the Missionaries of Charity the following guidelines for practicing humility:
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  1. Speak as little as possible about yourself.
  2. Keep busy with your own affairs and not those of others.
  3. Avoid curiosity.
  4. Do not interfere in the affairs of others.
  5. Accept small irritations with good humor.
  6. Do not dwell on the faults of others.
  7. Accept censures even if unmerited.
  8. Give in to the will of others.
  9. Accept insults and injuries.
  10. Accept contempt, being forgotten and disregarded.
  11. Be courteous and delicate even when provoked by someone.
  12. Do not seek to be admired and loved.
  13. Do not protect yourself behind your own dignity.
  14. Give in, in discussions, even when you are right.
  15. Always choose the more difficult task.
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The Litany of Humility is also helpful:
O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
**Deliver me, Jesus. **
From the desire of being loved…
From the desire of being extolled …
From the desire of being honored …
From the desire of being praised …
From the desire of being preferred to others…
From the desire of being consulted …
From the desire of being approved …
From the fear of being humiliated …
From the fear of being despised…
From the fear of suffering rebukes …
From the fear of being calumniated …
From the fear of being forgotten …
From the fear of being ridiculed …
From the fear of being wronged …
From the fear of being suspected …
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That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
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That others may be esteemed more than I …
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease …
That others may be chosen and I set aside …
That others may be praised and I unnoticed …
That others may be preferred to me in everything…
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…
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In chapter 7 of his Rule, St. Benedict talks about humility. See osb.org/rb/text/rbejms3.html#7

In short (and taken from roca.org/OA/5/5k.htm):🙂


  1. *]The first step towards humility is fear of God and remembrance of Him in all things that we do.
    *]Secondly, the struggler must not love to do his own will, but follow instead the example of the Saviour: “I have come not to do My own will, but the will of Him Who sent Me.”
    *]We must be obedient to God and His Church, in all things great and small.
    *]The struggler must be patient, enduring everything that comes to him.
    *]We must not hide our sins, but eagerly confess them.
    *]One who seeks humility must be content with the poorest and worst of everything,
    *]We must consider ourselves as lower than anyone else.
    *]We should not seek to be “different” from others; we should do only what is needful, following the example of the saints.
    *]The humble man learns to restrain his tongue.
    *]We must be serious-minded, not frivolous or silly.
    *]Our words to others should be few, and covered with gentleness.
    *]Real humility appears first in the heart; then it shows itself in our outward behaviour, whether we are working or resting.

    Or…you could get a cat. There’s nothing like cleaning the litter box to remind you of your place in the world.
 
Maturity involves transitioning from childhood (where self is first and others are second) to Catholic adulthood (where we lay down our lives for our spouses, kids, work, i.e. OTHERS come first, and self comes second). Some Catholic moms (and moms in general) think they’re helping their kids by giving them a soft, comfortable life with maximum entertainment and minimal pain. Naturally, no child wants to grow up and volunteer to be second after being first for so long. Society is no longer struggling for survival, as it was in the farm society we used to have pre-50 years ago, so there aren’t ehough chores to force kids to work hard and sacrifice for others in a standard home situation. This is where good parenthood is so vital. It’s our job to raise adults, not kids. Kids need to be given duties and responsibilities to train them to struggle, succeed, and sacrifice for others, as well as have fun with us so they’ll be less likely to rebel. Other churches have borrowed a pop culture media seduction to get kids interested, where ours is more rooted in a tradition of deep solemnity of prayer, which is in stark contrast to all the flashing lights and the minimal attention span that media provides for them until their next expected immediate stimulation. We expect them to follow our deep tradition, but there’s not enough patience for them to get deep when pop culture media has conditioned them to adopt flashing lights and the immediate gratification of visual stimulation. Them asking the “why” questions poses a problem for older Catholics because we didn’t doubt our Catholicism and didn’t challenge it. I’ve found that the answers to all the “WHYS” can be found in Leo Trese’s “The Faith Explained.” It should be required reading for ALL Catholics, in my opinion. We will continue to lose more members and kids than necessary if we cannot answer the whys. We will continue to struggle to raise kids in our Faith, to be unselfish givers, as long as they are exposed to shallow pop culture media that promotes lust and self to be more important than true, romantic, deep, sacrificial love. Bring back the romance! :hug1:
 
Ievita said:
hello everyone!

Does anybody have any good tips or advice on how to cultivate humility (how to become a more humble person)? Would appreciate advice on that! Thanks in advance!
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Wow, you’ve gotten some amazing responses here . . .
 
One more thing comes to mind;
Remeber to be good to yourself and acknowledge the good you have and the good you bring to the world. This will bring you joy and joy is the sister of humility.
 
My spiritual director once told me that the word humility comes from humous, earth. He said be like the rich fertile earth. Do this by being honest with yourself about your strengths, limitations, goods, and bads… and accept that this is the you God loves and died for… then when you don’t live up to the ideals (set forth in the above posts), you won’t beat yourself up for that (false humility) and when you succeed in practicing such virtues, you won’t be tempted to pride because you know you are just earth (strengths and weaknesses) and it is God working in and through you.

It is raining here. The earth is accepting the water in order to grow things (virtue). A metaphor.
 
For me, humility is helped by remembering how fast and how hard I fall without His grace. I am just being pulled out of a hole I dug for myself, and it is humbling to know that I am nothing without His mercy and that I can do nothing to save myself.
 
Thank you so much, everyone who answered. This is much more than I would have gotten researching on my own. Now I should just print this out and put it on my wall in a frame!
God bless you all richly!:flowers:
 
ManOnFire said:
Maturity involves transitioning from childhood (where self is first and others are second) to Catholic adulthood (where we lay down our lives for our spouses, kids, work, i.e. OTHERS come first, and self comes second). Some Catholic moms (and moms in general) think they’re helping their kids by giving them a soft, comfortable life with maximum entertainment and minimal pain. Naturally, no child wants to grow up and volunteer to be second after being first for so long. Society is no longer struggling for survival, as it was in the farm society we used to have pre-50 years ago, so there aren’t ehough chores to force kids to work hard and sacrifice for others in a standard home situation. This is where good parenthood is so vital. It’s our job to raise adults, not kids. Kids need to be given duties and responsibilities to train them to struggle, succeed, and sacrifice for others, as well as have fun with us so they’ll be less likely to rebel. Other churches have borrowed a pop culture media seduction to get kids interested, where ours is more rooted in a tradition of deep solemnity of prayer, which is in stark contrast to all the flashing lights and the minimal attention span that media provides for them until their next expected immediate stimulation. We expect them to follow our deep tradition, but there’s not enough patience for them to get deep when pop culture media has conditioned them to adopt flashing lights and the immediate gratification of visual stimulation. Them asking the “why” questions poses a problem for older Catholics because we didn’t doubt our Catholicism and didn’t challenge it. I’ve found that the answers to all the “WHYS” can be found in Leo Trese’s “The Faith Explained.” It should be required reading for ALL Catholics, in my opinion. We will continue to lose more members and kids than necessary if we cannot answer the whys. We will continue to struggle to raise kids in our Faith, to be unselfish givers, as long as they are exposed to shallow pop culture media that promotes lust and self to be more important than true, romantic, deep, sacrificial love. Bring back the romance! :hug1:
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nice respone
 
Ievita said:
Thank you so much, everyone who answered. This is much more than I would have gotten researching on my own. Now I should just print this out and put it on my wall in a frame!
God bless you all richly!:flowers:
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I will print out some of these ideas too. Then it will be time to see how to incorporate the ideas into my life.

Seeking humility will serve you well in your faith.

Have you thought about any actions you might do which are humble or which will cultivate humility?

God bless
 
Highwayhound said:
Have you thought about any actions you might do which are humble or which will cultivate humility?
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First of all, to quit talking back and defending myself all the time… and to quit talking about myself and acting smart… as it says above. Its enough of a challenge for now. haha…

How about yourself
 
This thread is a find for me. I am so verbal sometimes and like to joke a little too much. 😃 I need to print out or cut and paste some of these posts. Thanks!👍
 
Ievita said:
First of all, to quit talking back and defending myself all the time… and to quit talking about myself and acting smart… as it says above. Its enough of a challenge for now. haha…

How about yourself
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One thing I did was to cut out the sarcasm from my speech. I was very good at it, but it was not always productive or peaceful.

Another choice I made was to collect pop cans for the nickel deposits. The money is then sent overseas to Sister Peg’s Maryknoll house building project. I bicycle around to find them along the roadsides. I also will pick the cans out of garbage cans. I figure that since God has blessed me with a home I can sacrifice my pride to help someone else get a home.

I visit people at a local nursing home.

This last summer (2009) I went bicycling with my dog Star in the state of Alaska. People would see me and Star and stop to talk to me. The 674th person did not know they were the 674th person to ask me, “Where did you start, where are you going, etc.?” So I answered with patience and humility because I could then talk with them about Wash For Life and other matters of faith.

So, if you are working on eliminating the smart talk from your speech and to not be defending yourself all the time then that is a good start.

God bless
 
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