Humility

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I was wondering if I could hear from others their definition of Humility - not the Godless humility but humility as a Christian virtue.
 
HAVING A HUMBLE OPINION OF SELF

EVERY man naturally desires knowledge; but what good is knowledge without fear of God? Indeed a humble rustic who serves God is better than a proud intellectual who neglects his soul to study the course of the stars. He who knows himself well becomes mean in his own eyes and is not happy when praised by men.
If I knew all things in the world and had not charity, what would it profit me before God Who will judge me by my deeds?

Shun too great a desire for knowledge, for in it there is much fretting and delusion. Intellectuals like to appear learned and to be called wise. Yet there are many things the knowledge of which does little or no good to the soul, and he who concerns himself about other things than those which lead to salvation is very unwise.

Many words do not satisfy the soul; but a good life eases the mind and a clean conscience inspires great trust in God
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The more you know and the better you understand, the more severely will you be judged, unless your life is also the more holy. Do not be proud, therefore, because of your learning or skill. Rather, fear because of the talent given you. If you think you know many things and understand them well enough, realize at the same time that there is much you do not know. Hence, do not affect wisdom, but admit your ignorance. Why prefer yourself to anyone else when many are more learned, more cultured than you?

If you wish to learn and appreciate something worth while, then love to be unknown and considered as nothing. Truly to know and despise self is the best and most perfect counsel. To think of oneself as nothing, and always to think well and highly of others is the best and most perfect wisdom. Wherefore, if you see another sin openly or commit a serious crime, do not consider yourself better, for you do not know how long you can remain in good estate. All men are frail, but you must admit that none is more frail than yourself.
-The Imitation of Christ
 
Thanks that is what it says in my catholic bible but I was hoping that you not just post the definition but to share you personal thoughts and opinion on it.I may be asking too much here.if I am please ignore my thread.
 
The humility shown by Mary the Mother of Jesus. She saw herself as the handmaid of the LOrd, a servant. she at the same time knew that God had bestowed on her the highest privilege that could be bestowed on a woman, to be the Mother of God, the mother of His human nature. Jesus assumed human nature from her. She did not deny this greatest of privileges , but acknowledged it, and what God had done to her. She still considered herself as a servant. She admitted the truth and still attributed all that she had to God, and knew herself, and admitted that she was just a creature of God in the same instant. Humility is to know the truth and to treat oneself accordingly, not to deny what we have as coming from
God, and at the same time know who we really are in ourselves and admitting that as well

Of course the greatest example of humility is God, Himself. He, in a sense, in Heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father, left His throne and became man by assuming human nature from Mary and became God-man. He became like man in every way but sin, to redeem man from the works of Satan and to bestow the Holy Spirit on all those that accept Him He became subject to man His creation even to death on the cross. By His humility He destroyed the pride of Satan, and the pride of men. It takes the grace of humility to turn to Jesus for salvation, one must admit to himself and to God that he is a sinner in need of salvation. It is the truth. When man does this a “new life” is bestowed on him, and by it he is raised to a saintly, holy life where God does wonderful things to him, like Mary

Humility is the foundation of all virtue, like the earth (humus) that bears all kinds of fruit. Jesus meek and humble of heart make our hearts like unto thine, say it frequently.
 
Jesus also said “the greatest in Heaven are those who are servants to others” He came to serve, not to be served.
 
“Do not be discouraged if you do not see the good you do. Most of the time people are helped through obscurity, their hidden sacrifices, instead of the fervor of a glamorous Apostolate. Above all, let us try to lay aside our own ego, for this is what ruins everything.”
Venerable Thecla Merlo
 
ynotzap said:
Jesus also said “the greatest in Heaven are those who are servants to others” He came to serve, not to be served.
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humility is not fooling yourself or being flattered by others,try reading thomas a kempis
 
hu324b said:
I was wondering if I could hear from others their definition of Humility - not the Godless humility but humility as a Christian virtue.
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I believe a person who is humble can say, “I made a mistake”, “I’m sorry”, “I don´t know”. Also, he/she can accept correction when wrong. St. Peter was an EXCELLENT example of humility. One time St. Paul corrected Peter! Peter, in all humility, realized he was wrong, and accepted correction. He is one good model to follow.

A prideful person often may never admit to making a mistake or not knowing, (much less apologizing).

I believe that since we are imperfect human beings, we probably need to be saying all of these with some degree of regularity. If not, probably pridefulness would be a problem.

I think sometimes we may (mistakenly) think we are the best in something, irreplaceable, but in reality, very few of us are.

Some people with difficulties with pridefulness also seem to have great difficulties acknowledging the good others do, complimenting folks, from the heart. Some prideful people just criticize, don’t know how to compliment, think only they know the “right” way to do anything.

I think a humble person focuses more on himself, improving himself, then looking to others to see how they don’t measure up.

I don’t think humility means walking hunched over, saying over and over again, “I’m not worthy”.

When we make a mistake, we need to admit to the mistake, can feel regret but prerferably not wallow in guilt, thinking this is humility and somehow helpful. Regret can be helpful. Guilt is not.

Humility is not overestimating our importance or feeling superior to others.
 
simonmic said:
Is seeking the praise of others wrong then?
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It depends on the reason for seeking praise. If it is for gaining confidence for a job well done, it O.K., but it may be disappointing Praise may not be forthcoming and it could be very discouraging. On the other hand, one runs a spiritual danger from seeking praise. Knowing how vulnerable human nature is to pride, it would not be a prudent endeavor. It can lead to a false estimation of one’s self, an inflated ego, which is pride or arrogance. Some refer to it as a “swollen head”

A spiritual director told me in the past that Pride is like a peacock. A peacock has iridescent feathers of many colors and design,a beautiful display, and when it struts, it spreads its feathers and when it does it shows the worst part of itself 🙂 If one receives praise, accept it thankfully, and say to one’s self, “thank you Jesus” and move on. Don’t deny the gift, be truthful, but know who you really are, God’s creation, who endows His creatures with all their good qualities, and nothing comes from us but from Him.
 
I often think of doing it for the wrong reasons i guess. To gain friends maybe.

I have sometimes imagined myself some kind of hero.Trying to say sorry for my terrible sins by saving people, like some superhero in comics and films…Daydreaming!
 
To me, there are 2 kinds of pride. One is what I would refer to as a kind of good pride…that you are proud of yourself, your family, friends, country, team. accomplishments. I think that’s positive.

There is negative pride, arrogance, where it is excessive, leads to a sense of self superiorirty, viewing others as less, inferior.
 
simonmic said:
I often think of doing it for the wrong reasons i guess. To gain friends maybe.

I have sometimes imagined myself some kind of hero.Trying to say sorry for my terrible sins by saving people, like some superhero in comics and films…Daydreaming!
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Seeking praise to gain friends is not a bad thing, it is a human thing. actually being a friend first gets friends. Seeking praise may eventually get attention, but not necessarily friends. You can’t beat love of neighbor to get friends, some may not be true friends, they may not love back, but those that do are true friends, especially when you need them and they respond. God advises us to love everyone, even our enemies, that’s tough especially if they hurt you deeply, but responding in love is the proof of one’s goodness and is pleasing to God, and that is what counts. Then you become a hero in God’s eyes!
 
ynotzap said:
Seeking praise to gain friends is not a bad thing, it is a human thing. actually being a friend first gets friends. Seeking praise may eventually get attention, but not necessarily friends. You can’t beat love of neighbor to get friends, some may not be true friends, they may not love back, but those that do are true friends, especially when you need them and they respond. God advises us to love everyone, even our enemies, that’s tough especially if they hurt you deeply, but responding in love is the proof of one’s goodness and is pleasing to God, and that is what counts. Then you become a hero in God’s eyes!
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Or if i had hurt them…goodnight.
 
simonmic said:
I often think of doing it for the wrong reasons i guess. To gain friends maybe.

I have sometimes imagined myself some kind of hero.Trying to say sorry for my terrible sins by saving people, like some superhero in comics and films…Daydreaming!
Click to expand...
I think that’s okay. I don´t think it hurts anyone, but a wrong sense of pridefulness does, leads to a lot of put downs, sarcasm, verbal abuse, insults.
 
Well, they say even the lowly and what we might think of as “ignorant” can actually teach us. In the Bible, it says, “Out of the mouth of babes…”…

Wisdom is often hidden from the prideful, revealed to the humble.
 
Once, a nun asked St. Bernadette if she had temptations of pride because she was favored by the Blessed Mother. “How can I?” she answered quickly. “The Blessed Virgin chose me only because I was the most ignorant.”

I, myself am ignorant, but not anywhere as near as humble as St. Bernadette .
 
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