Sacrament Talk on Humility

Humility: the most allusive characteristic. Once you think you have it, you actually aren't humble at all.
Humility is desperate, hard work

Doctrine of humility stems from The Great Commandment.

Matthew 22:37 "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind."

What is love? 2 John 1:6 "And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it."


Preach My Gospel is a manual for LDS missionaries. It has rules, routines, counsel, and inspiration. There is an entire chapter on Christlike Attributes and how to achieve them. One of these is humility. PMG p. 120 "Humility is willingness to submit to the will of the Lord . . . When you humbly trust Him and acknowledge His power and mercy, you can have the assurance that His commandments are for your good. You are confident that you can do whatever the Lord requires of you if you rely on Him. You are also willing to trust His chosen servants and follow their counsel."

It's notable that humility is a requirement at baptism.

My Great Grandma, Domitila

My great grandmother was one of the first Latter-Day Saints in Guatemala. She first attended church at the advice of a friend of her young daughter. This brave little girl invited her friend and her whole family to come to church with her. Domitila was humble enough to take her advice, and was eventually baptized herself.

My grandmother, her sister, mother, and cousin were all baptized on the same day.

On my own mission, one of the last friends I taught the gospel to was Yuko. She was in her fifties and at the peak of her career in the fashion industry. And she was humble enough to listen to a twenty-year-old and follow through on the commitments I gave her. I hope to be like her when I grow up.

Principles of humility

Mosiah 4:11-12 "And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.
And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true."

I think Rejoice = not being jealous or offended or hopeless.

When you do things selflessly, with no expectations, it's easy to be humble. Expectations often get in the way of humility.

President Oscarson's example: "Occasionally our children would ask us the question, “Why do I have to go to Mutual? I just don’t get very much out of it.”
If I was having a good parenting moment, I would reply, “What makes you think you go to Mutual because of what you get out of it?”

Malcolm Forbes, magazine publisher: "You Can Easily Judge the Character of a Man by How He Treats Those Who Can Do Nothing for Him."

Potatoes accepted

This is a story from the January 2015 Ensign I love. "As an elementary schoolteacher of more than 25 years, I have received a lot of interesting things from my young students. Silly notes, drawn pictures, and imaginative crafts are common gifts. Last year, however, was the first time I had ever received a potato.

“A potato for the teacher,” young Emma said proudly when she came to my desk, “because I didn’t have an apple.” It was a medium-sized potato, scrubbed clean, and beautiful as far as potatoes go. I thanked her and placed it on my desk. I saw Emma’s large blue eyes shine with pride whenever she looked at it throughout the day.

After school, when I was working at my desk, I couldn’t help but regard the potato with a tender smile. Children see things so simply, and with that common potato, Emma taught me something important. I left it on my desk for over a week because it served as a reminder to me.

As a visiting teacher and a sister in my ward, I wanted to serve others, but I was always waiting for an “apple” before I took time to help. If I was busy and couldn’t make an extra casserole or if I wanted to give a special flower but didn’t get to the floral shop, I ignored the still, small voice of the Spirit whispering of someone who needed my service.

“I’ll do something this weekend, when I have time,” I would convince myself. “Nobody needs me today.”

But what if someone really did need me? What if I hadn’t ignored the promptings to visit an elderly neighbor or the young widow who had just lost her husband? Could I have helped or served, even with what I could offer then—a “potato”?

I learned a great lesson from Emma that I am trying hard to put into practice. If I don’t have an apple, I give a potato instead, and I do it now. I don’t wait to make a casserole or my special lemon cream pie; I buy a box of cookies instead. I don’t often get to the florist, but I can drop in for a chat without the flower. A homemade card would be great, but so would a quick phone call. It doesn’t have to be a grand gesture of service every time. A small gesture of love is just as nice.

I have the potato at home now, but I don’t think I’ll ever eat it. It serves as a constant reminder to serve when I’m prompted. I give what I can now instead of waiting until later. A potato for the teacher really was the nicest gift."

Humility is related to diligence.

a. (Diligence is next to humility in PMG) "Humility will help you as you strive to be obedient, to work hard, and serve selflessly." p.120

Humility is the great motivator

Japan was a wasteland after World War II. Huge cities like Tokyo, Nagasaki, and Hiroshima were flattened. I've had the opportunity to visit a Mazda factory in Hiroshima. They were happy to discuss that dark history with me. Three months after the atomic bomb went off they were manufacturing cars again. Their bounceback was remarkable. Their humble circumstances did not stop them or discourage them, but motivated them to work harder.

Are you familiar with the Napalm girl? If you haven't, I want you to know that this picture is graphic.

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Source: http://all-that-is-interesting.com/napalm-girl

The Napalm girl is famous because she was burned with napalm gas and a photographer captured her running away. She is in pain and visibly crying. Wailing maybe even. But she is also running the fastest. There are other children behind her trying to escape as well, but their trot is slower. The first girl has had her clothes burned off, but the children behind her look unharmed. I saw this picture for the first time and thought, Maybe she's running faster because she knows the harm in slowing down. Her condition motivates her to run faster than the rest. Her humility motivates her. Those who do not know the pain are not trying as hard to escape it.

In the days of Moses, they had a mobile tabernacle, or temple. This fall BYU built a replicate tabernacle for the public to tour. I saw it myself. At the very front of the temple there was the altar for sacrifice. At every corner of the altar there were golden horns. Apparently, when someone committed an egregious sin, all they had to do was outrun the judge to the temple and grab on to one of the horns. If somebody did this, they would be pardoned of their sin. If they did not make it, likely the punishment for the sin was death. They literally ran for their lives to the temple.

I wish I had the humility to run to the temple as if my life depended on it.

I hope this was a repeated reminder to you to be humble. Repetition is your friend.

"It is important to understand the magnitude of Christ’s humility, righteousness, character, and intelligence, as exemplified in the scriptures. It is foolish to underestimate the necessity of continuously striving for these Christlike qualities and attributes on a day-by-day basis, particularly humility" Elder Cook