More on Humility

I was looking through my Scripture Journal, something I haven't picked up for over a year, and found some wonderful things. (my scripture journal is a bunch of scriptures that I have read on one certain topic and written down the ones that I felt I could learn from) In the fall of 2001 I studied the topic of Pride, and I forgot all about it. Not only did I find scriptures, I found a talk by the prophet Ezra T. Benson (conf. report April 1989), and even though it's 20 yrs old, it still applies.

This is a quote from that talk,
"Most of us consider pride to be a sin of those on the top, such as the rich and the learned, looking down at the rest of us, (2 Nephi 9:42) There is however, a far more common ailment among us, and that is pride from the 'Bottom looking up'. It is manifest in so many ways, such as:
Fault finding
Gossiping
Backbiting
Murmuring
Jealousy
Being Unforgiving
Living beyond our means
Envying
Coveting
Withholding gratitude and praise that might lift another."
He goes on to say that the antidote for Pride is Humility.........we all knew that, didn't we?
He then pleads with us to "CHOOSE" to be humble. Here are his 8 suggestions on what to do to become humble.
1.Conquer Enmity (a state of opposition towards God and others)
2.Receive counsel and chastisement (Oh that's a fun one)
3.Forgive offenses and those who offended
4.Render Selfless Service
5.Preach the Word (missionary work)
6. Frequent temple attendance
7. Confess and forsake sins
8. Submit to HIS WILL in all things.
Sounds so easy, doesn't it? (no, not easy at all)
I have collected over 40 scriptures that talk about Pride and Humility. It's 16 pages long, (handwritten) so I will NOT include it here, but I do think I will type it up on Microsoft Word and I could email it to you if you are in need of such spiritual counsel as this.
But, a few things I learned (and forgot, boy am I glad I wrote it all down) were that Humility and Pride are really a "CONDITION OF THE HEART". So, I ask myself, "How's your heart condition, Karen?" Here's just a few scriptures that I loved.
Proverbs 18:12-"Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility"
James 4: 6 & 10 (Really the whole chapter is good) vs6 "...God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble" vs 10 "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up" YEAY, that's what I want, grace (which he has given me already) and to be lifted up, (spiritually, physically, emotionally, etc.) everyday.
Thank you all so much for getting me back into the scriptures!! I loved all the comments on humility and I would like to hear more feedback on how you feel about this stuff.
I do have to add here that one of the comments talked about gratitude, and I whole-heartedly agree, I can feel it when I start to think I am not humble, counting my blessings does bring humility. The one thing that is wierd about that is I didn't find any scriptures or quotes from Pres Benson that mentioned gratitude. If you guys could find me some, I would be most appreciative.

Now, I need to make one more comment about something I said last entry. I said I may have cracked the code on why I am so wierd. That was not a nice way to talk about a daughter of God, so I repent about that, but as far as "the code" goes, what I meant was that an answer came to my mind while I was having a LONG prayer and some meditation (listening). The answer was that I have some "beliefs" on my belief window that affect me greatly, but I have supressed them so deeply into my subconsious that I don't even realize it. And they are FALSE, not truth. For example, the first belief I realized is that I believe that if my life is going along great, and I am happy about everything, then I can't be humble, or acceptable to God. I HAVE to have a problem or challenge at all times. When things are going good, I think I make myself anxious so that I can have a problem. Is that ridiculous? But remember, I don't consiously believe that. Heavenly Father DOES want me to be happy, and He and The Savior DO NOT want me to feel fear. THAT IS A TRUTH. So I am working on all these things.
I physically am feeling pretty good, I got my sling off my arm and am going to physical therapy 3 times a week for 4 weeks to get my arm back into shape. (it does ache alot) I have so much to be thankful for, but now that I have started "cleaning out my closet" (see post about 5 months ago :), I still am rearranging everything that goes back into this closet, and still chucking anything that is worthless. It looks like just because my test results say I am all better for the time being, doesn't mean that my soul is all better yet. Thank heavens we have a lifetime to work on these things. In my case, I don't know how long that lifetime will be, so I need to keep on working now.
Love you all,
Love, Karen