Evidences of a lack of humility

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what indicates a lack of humilty? (a good listing will be very helpful)
Thanks!
 
There’s a great little book entitled Particular Examen: How to Root Out Hidden Faults by Fr. James F. McElhone, C.S.C. It goes through all the capital sins (pride, avarice, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, and sloth) and gives advice on getting rid of your “predominant fault.” The following are a few of his examples of pride (the opposite of humility):
  • Pride of authority (superiority) — being domineering, overbearing, haughty, a bully, bossy, know-it-all, critical, argumentative, snobbish, demanding recognition, holding myself above others, desiring to be first, belittling others, finding fault easily, making known the faults of others, etc.
  • Pride of timidity — hiding weaknesses, avoiding things I should do for fear of failure, fear of ridicule
  • Pride of sensitiveness — being very sensitive, having feelings that are too easily wounded, imagining that others are wilfully hurting me, carrying grudges, being moody or brooding, being unwilling to accept advice or correction
  • Pride of complacency (vanity) — being vain about spiritual, mental, or external affairs — having an exalted opinion of myself, comparing myself to others, noticing others’ faults, heroic daydreams, being conceited in the way I explain things to others, being vain about my personal appearance, talents, etc., seeking praise, failing to give God credit for all my gifts
 
Thanks for the suggestion, PhilotheaZ. It is very good.
Have a good night, Barbara. 🙂
 
water said:
Thanks for the suggestion, PhilotheaZ. It is very good.
Have a good night, Barbara. 🙂
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Can’t sleep - this endless list keeps going on and on in my mind…😃 …
I shouldn’t be so flippant, I know…but Philothea’s list just about said it all…I hope!..the moment I start to think I just might be being humble, I can be jolly sure that I am loosing it in that thought, speaking for myself and a very low bar - trust me!..Barb:)
 
according to the rule of St. Benedict, obedience is the mother of humility, so rebellion against proper authority beginning with rebellion against God and His Church is certainly the chief sign.
 
BarbaraTherese said:
Can’t sleep - this endless list keeps going on and on in my mind…😃 …
I shouldn’t be so flippant, I know…but Philothea’s list just about said it all…I hope!..the moment I start to think I just might be being humble, I can be jolly sure that I am loosing it in that thought, speaking for myself and a very low bar - trust me!..Barb:)
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I’m soooooo sorry, Barb … on the bright side, maybe we’ve discovered a non-drug substitute for caffeine?😉

Although I didn’t lose sleep over it, I found myself “guilty as charged” with more items on the list than I care to admit.
 
This was always one of my favorite meditations from St. Teresa of Avila, and in many instances I found that her words are very true. A sign of faulty humility would be to find ourselves distressed at the sight of our weakness or imperfections and remorseful due to thinking that were already on the road to high sanctity.
Pay great attention, daughters, to this point which I shall now make, because sometimes thinking yourselves so wicked may be humility and virtue and at other times a very great temptation. I have had experience of this, so I know it is true. Humility, however deep it be, neither disquiets nor troubles nor disturbs the soul; it is accompanied by peace, joy and tranquillity. Although, on realizing how wicked we are, we can see clearly that we deserve to be in hell, and are distressed by our sinfulness, and rightly think that everyone should hate us, yet, if our humility is true, this distress is accompanied by an interior peace and joy of which we should not like to be deprived.
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Far from disturbing or depressing the soul, it enlarges it and makes it fit to serve God better. The other kind of distress only disturbs and upsets the mind and troubles the soul, so grievous is it. I think the devil is anxious for us to believe that we are humble, and, if he can, to lead us to distrust God.
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global.org/Pub/Teresa_Perfection_39.asp
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………… if our humility is true, this distress is accompanied by an interior peace and joy of which we should not like to be deprived.
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This teaching of St. Teresa is very true and profound.
There is an easy temptation for those who earnestly working toward holiness.
When they encounter their weaknesses after having walked down the road for a while, they could feel disappointed at themselves. But with true humility, a person will realize and accept his own shortcomings and broken natures without being distressed.
He ought to pick himself up and continue walking closely with the Lord.
He realizes that without Christ, he can do nothing, with Christ,all things are hopeful.
 
Hi InLight,

You wrote something awhile ago that remained with me from one of your posts about not letting the right hand know what the left hand is doing. I think that humility would enable us to keep quiet when the opportunity to display our works becomes present - no need to ‘shout from the rooftops’ to let everyone know the good deeds we accomplished.

But then if we go off proud and inwardly congratulate ourselves for having remained silent, OOPS! There it goes. http://bestsmileys.com/sad/1.gif
 
Joysong said:
Hi InLight,

You wrote something awhile ago that remained with me from one of your posts about not letting the right hand know what the left hand is doing. I think that humility would enable us to keep quiet when the opportunity to display our works becomes present - no need to ‘shout from the rooftops’ to let everyone know the good deeds we accomplished.
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Sometimes, our works need to be told, it can become a good way to profess our faith and for others to know Christ. It is how and why we tell that is crucial in remaining humility.
 
puzzleannie said:
according to the rule of St. Benedict, obedience is the mother of humility, so rebellion against proper authority beginning with rebellion against God and His Church is certainly the chief sign.
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yes, this can be a big problem for any of us.
 
water said:
Sometimes, our works need to be told, it can become a good way to profess our faith and for others to know Christ. It is how and why we tell is crucial in remaining humility.
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You are right. Motivation is the key. God looks into our hearts and know our motivations.

To tell or not to tell a good deed, depends on the necessity and purpose. Like Joysong said, feeling proud in our heart for not revealing, defeats the original intention. It surely takes efforts on virtues.
 
PhilotheaZ said:
There’s a great little book entitled Particular Examen: How to Root Out Hidden Faults by Fr. James F. McElhone, C.S.C. It goes through all the capital sins (pride, avarice, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, and sloth) and gives advice on getting rid of your “predominant fault.” The following are a few of his examples of pride (the opposite of humility):
  • Pride of authority (superiority) — being domineering, overbearing, haughty, a bully, bossy, know-it-all, critical, argumentative, snobbish, demanding recognition, holding myself above others, desiring to be first, belittling others, finding fault easily, making known the faults of others, etc.
  • Pride of timidity — hiding weaknesses, avoiding things I should do for fear of failure, fear of ridicule
  • Pride of sensitiveness — being very sensitive, having feelings that are too easily wounded, imagining that others are wilfully hurting me, carrying grudges, being moody or brooding, being unwilling to accept advice or correction
  • Pride of complacency (vanity) — being vain about spiritual, mental, or external affairs — having an exalted opinion of myself, comparing myself to others, noticing others’ faults, heroic daydreams, being conceited in the way I explain things to others, being vain about my personal appearance, talents, etc., seeking praise, failing to give God credit for all my gifts
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Makes me look at myself and think …HELP!!!
Good entry, thanks
Godbless
 
I look at that list and I have no clue where I stand, none. It seems to change from second to second depending on what I reflect on in my past. I don’t seem to have a now or future. That is why I recall the past to address the current in most of my posts. That is what ptsd does. It kills your expectations, future and planing become nonexistent at the threat of death. The Benedictine rule of obedience is much easier to p(name removed by moderator)oint. Tim
 
This is a good topic. Sometimes it feels like everyone(particularly the media) try to drill it into our heads the idea that life is all about “Me Me. Me.”
 
St_Gabriel said:
This is a good topic. Sometimes it feels like everyone(particularly the media) try to drill it into our heads the idea that life is all about “Me Me. Me.”
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I just want to add.

If you want to recognize true humility, just look at those poor starving kids in third world countries. They have nothing except humility.
 
Joysong said:
This was always one of my favorite meditations from St. Teresa of Avila, and in many instances I found that her words are very true. A sign of faulty humility would be to find ourselves distressed at the sight of our weakness or imperfections and remorseful due to thinking that were already on the road to high sanctity.
Click to expand...
…👍 …
 
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