False humility. What is humility? Basic Christian Virtue How to Learn Meekness and Humility
How often do you encounter problems, troubles? Do you have conflicts with other people in your life?
Surely there are some that last for years. Many methods have already been tried to solve them. But unsuccessfully.
It seems to you that you are in a dead end, in a hopeless situation. It depresses you, but you still continue to fight.
You desperately resist coming to terms with the situation, because there is an opinion that this is a manifestation of weakness, hopelessness.
In this article, you will learn what to do to resolve a problematic situation, and how humility will help you with this.
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What is humility
“Humble - who is humble, who lives in humility,
in meek devotion to providence, in the consciousness of one's insignificance.”
Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary
What do you know about humility?
This concept carries a religious connotation at the level of mass consciousness and, in the traditional sense, has a shade of weakness:
- Humility is the absence of pride, the willingness to submit to someone else's will.
- Humility is the awareness of one's weaknesses and shortcomings, a feeling of contrition, remorse, modesty.
- Humility is the realization that the goal is unattainable.
Doesn't it all look hopeless?
As a client of the “Keys of Mastery” project said: “Humility is when you agree with all the heap of problems, with all the heavy load and make a promise to yourself to carry it for the rest of your life.”
In fact, those who have lived true humility find a different meaning in this word.
Humility is the end of the struggle, it is relinquishment of responsibility for resolving the situation and confidence higher powers that the situation will be resolved in the best way for everyone.
Simple example:
You sit in a boat and swim against the current. You row and row with oars as long as you have the strength.
There comes a moment when your hands go numb and you drop the oars.
You are carried away by the current, and you realize that you are where you need to be.
What is the value of humility
We are used to resisting humility, but if you look at this term from a different angle, it turns out that there is no need to be afraid of its onset.
In the moment of humility comes relief, liberation.
It allows you to reach a new spiritual level, where you gain the support of higher powers.
Humility is not weakness not the state of the victim.
Humility is freedom from struggle.
How to come to humility
5 stages of living a problem situation
#1 The occurrence of a situation
The first stage is the emergence of an unpleasant situation that caused a violent protest.
- The husband (wife) is jealous, suspects treason. And you have nothing to do with it. Constantly making excuses, proving to him (her) that he (a) is wrong (a).
And he (a) is even more angry, does not believe. You prove, prove, but your arguments for him (her) are unconvincing.
- Mom constantly pushes you, criticizes you, and you try to match her ideals of a good daughter, but to no avail.
- You are trying to protect your interests in the inheritance, but you run into a wall of misunderstanding of relatives.
#2 Trying to solve the problem on your own
This is the phase rampant activity. For people involved in self-development, supported by the belief that I am the Creator, that everything is in my power.
You push through all the doors, try all the different ways that the mind throws up. But the mind comes from life experience, from those scenarios of life that he saw.
At this stage, the spiritual component is absent.
There is only physical 3D actions which are dictated and controlled either by the developed ego or the personality of the person.
You are not looking for new opportunities. At this level, they are inaccessible.
#3 Despair
The moment you realize that no methods work, you fall into deep despair. You believed that you can do it, and the result is a complete zero.
When despair fills you, something inside clicks. And you understand, you just need to accept that it is. Enough! Come what may!
Consider our real life examples:
- You stop proving to your husband (wife) that you are a faithful spouse and allow him (her) to think what he (a) wants.
- Admit your mother is right: “Yes, I am a bad daughter! you don’t have another and you won’t have another!”
- Agree to give your share of the inheritance in favor of relatives.
#4 Humility
“It is impossible to solve a problem at the same level at which it arose.
You need to rise above this problem by rising to the next level.”
Albert Einstein
At the stage of humility, all the driving motives that made you beat on all these doors, they disappeared, they no longer work.
You take away from this process your personality, ego. You remove a powerful binding to the result, how you want to see it.
Submit to higher powers for permission the highest good of all participants in the situation. And then everything starts to unfold.
This is how humility works.
Until you have reached this point of despair, you have not reconciled yourself, the situation will not be resolved.
That's when this one comes moment of enlightenment.
The difficulty of humility is that you do not know what the result will be without your participation. Are you ready for an unexpected turn of events?
Let it happen manifestation of strength, wisdom and the onset of the next stage - acceptance.
#5 Acceptance and its difference from humility
When you take the reins from the ego and hand over to the higher forces for resolution, you realize that the situation must be accepted as it is.
First, you learn to accept the fact that you can’t influence the situation in any way, and then the moment of acceptance comes.
Humility differs from acceptance by feeling:
- Humility - sadness: “it didn’t work out, so be it ...”
- Acceptance is peace, the realization that this is how it should be.
That is, humility is not yet satisfaction, but it is no longer suffering either.
Acceptance is more advanced.
If humility comes from hopelessness, then acceptance is a conscious feeling.
Most likely, you will not come to humility by one effort of will, but knowing this algorithm, it will be easier for you to let go of the situation.
Alena Starovoitova about humility
How to resolve the situation with humility
No. 1. Switching attention
It can be of two types:
1. Random switching, with the help of external circumstances
But, as you know, nothing happens by chance.
Your “Higher Self”, seeing that the ego does not let go of the situation, creates such events in life that can switch your attention for a certain time.
During this time, the situation will resolve itself.
This happens if you:
- Can't get over(you will not come to humility consciously), and physical strength is running out. In order not to lose the internal resource at all, your higher aspects take such a step.
For example, a mother cannot put her child to bed for several days. Every day is like torture for both. You can’t let the situation go by itself, because the baby is the most expensive, and the life resource is simply necessary.
- Not mature spiritually to humility, and waste a lot of energy on solving some issue. Switching occurs in order to correct your path.
If in the first case you want to humble yourself, but you cannot, then in the second case, humility can arise only on a subconscious level.
This method is not suitable for protracted conflicts. If you've been battling against closed doors for years, then just shifting your focus won't be enough.
2. Conscious switching of attention
You fail to resolve some issue, you consciously accept the situation for a while and focus on other issues, or switch to something neutral.
During this time, the grip is loosened, and the situation either resolves itself, or an idea comes to you how to solve it.
No. 2. Pyramid of Power and Light
I must say that humility plays an important role in this method.
If you go to the pyramid, leave your problem there, and then continue to think about it, nothing will be solved.
What matters is how much you trust the higher powers in resolving the situation.
Number 3. Practicing “Wave Hand”
Here is a simple practice that will take you from despair to humility.
Surely you have heard about such a method of “problem solving” among the people, when it is proposed to raise your hand, wave and say: “Well, he ...!”
Let's just improve it.
Enter a semi-meditative state, raise your hand, or without raising your hand, and say:
“I pass on the decision of the situation to my Higher Self, my mentors and spiritual teachers for the highest good of all involved.”
Get ready for unexpected twists and turns. Things don't always work out the way we would like.
Your task Let the higher powers do all the work for you.
The ability to humble yourself is a new round of your spiritual evolution.
old manHumility -
1) Christian virtue; same as ;
2) conscious self-abasement in order to combat vanity and pride (example: for Christ's sake);
3) obedience, humility shown in relation to someone (eg confessor).
The word "humility" is based on the word "peace". This indicates that a humble person is always at peace with God, himself, and others.
Humility – it is a sober vision of oneself. A person who has no humility can indeed be compared to a drunkard. How he is in euphoria, thinking that "the sea is knee-deep", does not see himself from the outside and therefore is not able to correctly assess many difficult situations, and the lack of humility leads to spiritual euphoria - a person does not see himself from the outside and cannot adequately assess the situation in which he is in relation to people and oneself . It is possible to divide humility into these three categories only conditionally, theoretically, for the convenience of perception, but in fact it is one quality.
- Humility towards God- this is a vision of one's own, hope only for God's mercy, but not for one's own merits, love for Him, combined with uncomplaining transference hardships of life and difficulties . Humility is the desire to subordinate one's will to God's holy will, will and all-perfect. Since the source of any virtue is God, then, together with humility, He Himself dwells in the soul of a Christian. Humility will reign in the soul only when Christ is “depicted” in it ().
- In relation to other people- the absence of anger and irritation even at those who, it would seem, deserve it. This sincere gentleness is based on the fact that the Lord of the person with whom there was a disagreement is the same as you, and the ability not to identify your neighbor as God's creation and his sins.
- The person who has humility towards oneself, does not look for the shortcomings of others, as he perfectly sees his own. Moreover, in any conflict, he blames only himself, and for any accusation or even insult against him, such a person is ready to say sincerely: "I'm sorry." All patristic monastic literature says that without humility a good deed cannot be done, and many saints said that it is possible to have no other virtue than humility, and still be close to God.
Of course, what is said about is an ideal that every Christian, and not just a monk, should strive for, otherwise life in the church, which means the path to God, will be fruitless.
In "The Ladder of Virtues That Lead to Heaven," the monk writes about the three degrees of humility. The first degree consists in the joyful enduring of humiliation, when the soul accepts them with open arms as medicine. In the second degree, all anger is destroyed. The third degree consists in complete distrust of one's own good deeds and the constant desire to learn ().
Following the teachings of Orthodox ascetics, true humility is achieved only by doing the gospel. “Humility is naturally formed in the soul from activity according to the gospel commandments,” the monk teaches. But how can keeping the commandments lead to humility? After all, the fulfillment of the commandment, on the contrary, can lead a person to excessive self-satisfaction.
Recall that the gospel commandments are infinitely higher than ordinary ones. moral standards sufficient for human hostel. They are not human teachings, but the commandments of a perfectly holy God. The Gospel commandments are Divine requirements for a person, consisting in a call to love God with all your mind and heart, and your neighbor as yourself. ()
In striving to fulfill the Divine requirements, the Christian ascetic experiences by experience the insufficiency of his efforts. According to St. , he sees that every hour he is carried away by his passions, contrary to his desire, he strives for actions that are completely contrary to the commandments. The desire to fulfill the commandments reveals to him the sad state of human nature damaged by the fall, reveals his estrangement from love for God and neighbor. In the sincerity of his heart, he admits his sinfulness, his inability to fulfill the good destined by God. He considers his life itself as a continuous chain of sins and falls, as a series of deeds deserving Divine punishment.
The vision of one's sins gives rise in the ascetic to hope only in God's mercy, and not in one's own merits. He experiences the need for Divine help, asks God for strength to free himself from the power of sin. And God gives this grace-filled power, freeing from sinful passions, placing the inexpressible world in human soul.
Note that the word "peace" is part of the root of the word "humility" is not accidental. Visiting the human soul, Divine grace gives it indescribable serenity and silence, a feeling of reconciliation with all, which is characteristic of God Himself. This is the peace of God, surpassing every mind, of which the apostle speaks. () . This is the Divine humility and meekness that God desires to teach all people. () . The presence of humility in the heart is evidenced by deep and lasting peace of mind, love for God and people, compassion for all, spiritual silence and joy, the ability to hear and understand the will of God.
Humility is incomprehensible and inexpressible, since God Himself and His actions in the human soul are incomprehensible and inexpressible. Humility is made up of human weakness and Divine grace, which makes up for human weakness. In humility there is the action of the almighty God, therefore humility is always filled with an inexpressible and incomprehensible spiritual power that transforms a person and everything around.
By humility they often mean - the humiliation of oneself for show. Such humiliation is not humility, but a form of the passion of vanity. It is hypocrisy and philanthropy. It is recognized by the saints as soul-damaging.
Why is humility considered one of the main Christian virtues?
Genuine humility implies a proper attitude of a Christian towards God and the world He created, a proper attitude towards oneself.
Unlike the conceited proud man, who has a distorted, extremely inflated idea of his personality, role and place in life, a humble person correctly and responsibly evaluates his life role.
First of all, he recognizes himself as willing and ready to meekly fulfill Him. Moreover, he not only admits his dependence on the Creator (which happens to both egoists and proud people), but has the highest trust in Him as a Good and Loving Father; he is grateful to Him even when he is in and.
Without humility, it is impossible to build godly relationships either with the Creator or with your neighbors. does not imply sincere, selfless love for God and people.
Suppose a proud person is ready to obey God in some way, for example, when God's plans correspond to his personal dispositions and ambitions. In the event that the Divine command runs counter to his personal plans, he may “not notice” it or even openly ignore it.
So, the Old Testament commander Jehu joyfully and immediately responded to the Divine will to anoint him as king over Israel (). He also showed remarkable obedience to the Divine in terms of the destruction of the house of Ahab ().
AT this case Jehu served as an instrument of God's wrath and the judgment of Truth over the wicked. However, where he was required to show genuine religious humility, he was no longer so zealous and obedient.
During the earthly ministry of the Son of God, many of the representatives of Israel, mainly the Pharisees, showed formal obedience to God: they prayed, fasted in public, performed rituals and demanded their fulfillment from their fellow tribesmen. Outwardly, they might well pass for humble people, obedient to Divine Providence.
However, the pride and selfishness that nestled in their hearts blinded their spiritual eyes, prevented them from recognizing in Christ the Almighty God, the very same, humble and meek Anointed One, about whom those “revered” by them announced Holy Books, and preparing for a meeting with Whom the law “observed” by them was dedicated. Subsequently, pride and envy pushed them to a much more terrible crime: deicide.
If they had at least such humility as the Canaanite woman had, who correctly perceived the words of the Redeemer about the inappropriateness of taking bread from children and throwing it to dogs (), or such as the sinful publican had, who appealed to Divine mercy (), it would be easier for them to accept the Redeemer , join His disciples, and then, putting on the bonds of sacrificial service, leave everything and contribute to the spread).
Our misfortune is that we always want to find in ourselves instead of humility.
teacher
If you take yourself only for a miserable creature, then it is easy to allow and forgive yourself a lot of all kinds of iniquities; and in fact, considering themselves inferior to Christ, people (let it not seem like some kind of exaggeration) refuse to follow Him to Golgotha. To belittle in our minds the Creator's eternal plan for man is not an indicator of humility, but a delusion and, moreover, a great sin... If, on the ascetic plane, humility consists in considering oneself worse than everyone else, then on the theological plane, divine humility is love that gives itself without the remainder, in its entirety.
archimandrite
Those who say or do anything without humility are like building a temple without cement. Experience, reason to gain and know humility is the property of very few. By a word about him those who speak are like those who measure the abyss. But we, the blind, guessing a little about this great world, say: true humility does not speak the words of the humble, nor does it accept the forms of the humble, does not force itself to humbly philosophize about itself, and does not vilify itself, being humble. Although all these are the beginnings, the essence, manifestations and different types humility, but it is itself a grace and a gift from above.
St.
Love, mercy and humility differ only in names, but the power and action are the same. Love and mercy cannot exist without humility, and humility cannot exist without mercy and love.
One of the most common reasons for not attending church or accepting Christ as one's Savior is a complaint and dissatisfaction with being a humble person. People say, “God wants to see us as slaves, but I don't want to be a slave. Im free person!".
Of particular dissatisfaction is the well-known verse, where Christ says, if you are hit on your right cheek, you must turn your left. But is showing humility or meekness really weakness?
What is humility
The modern world requires a person to be strong, tough and able to achieve his own. This applies to both everyday things, for example, the constant struggle for parking at the house or spiritual ones - how can you remain silent when you are insulted or allow someone else to take the position promised to a person?
Humility is the state of man, where the will of God and man are one
It would seem that meekness does not fit into the modern paradigm of the world at all. But maybe it's because most people just don't know. true value given word?
The word "humility" is formed from a shorter and more capacious - the world. According to the dictionaries of the Russian language, this word can be understood in 3 versions:
- As a Christian virtue, a synonym for the words "humility", "submission" and "meekness".
- As a conscious belittlement of one's merits and talents in order to fight pride and vanity.
- As obedience and humility that a person shows in relation to someone.
Thus, the meek person seeks or is already at peace with God, people, and himself. And for the sake of this world, a Christian is ready to accept God's will above his own, the will of his neighbor is more important than his own, and to show humility for the sake of maintaining peace in relationships. This is the teaching of Christ - love your God and your neighbor as yourself. Thus, a person cannot fulfill the two most important commandments without this quality. But how to manifest it?
Important! A meek person is one who soberly evaluates himself and is not proud. He clearly understands and sees his sins, traces his thoughts and understands who he is. At the same time, he does not artificially belittle himself, but is ready to give in for the sake of preserving peace.
Artists are a good example. For example, a singer may accept his voice and hearing as a gift from God, knowing full well that he did not initially make any effort to sing well. He works, develops and at the same time is grateful to the Almighty for his talent - this is humility and meekness before the Lord.
Read about Christian virtues:
The opposite meaning of submission is pride. A proud person will never give in, he will not "bend", he will not compromise. His main goal is to get what he wants and at the same time the means of achieving this is unimportant. An example of such a person would be a musician who believes that he has achieved everything himself, built a career himself and does not owe anything to anyone. This is a manifestation of pride and ingratitude, unfortunately, such people usually lead a wild life, get addicted and lose their talent.
Where to be humble
Humility is manifested in two important areas - in relation to the Lord and in relation to the neighbor.
- In the first case, this is the recognition of one's sinfulness and hope not for oneself, but for God's mercy and love. Those. a person does not try by his own efforts to earn forgiveness or, as some say, to do good deeds, which then “count”.
Without humility, Christian spiritual life is impossible
A meek person understands perfectly well that he himself is not able to be saved, not able to be a saint, but can achieve salvation only through the death of Jesus Christ. And he also behaves in life - he submits his will to God, even when he does not like it or is at odds with his own goals and plans.
- Regarding relationships with other people, we can say that humility is manifested in the absence of anger or irritation with loved ones, in kindness to them and compliance. In any conflict situation, a humble person will seek to end differences and make peace, even if this is at odds with his plans or goals.
A banal example is the care of parents, which does not stop with the growing up of the child. A submissive person will gratefully take away a basket of mother's pies, even if he does not eat them, but the relationship with the mother and her satisfaction for such a child is more important than his own comfort.
False Humility
Like any other human quality, meekness has an evil twin - false humility. When a person thinks that he is doing the right thing and humbly, but in reality he only feeds his pride and selfishness.
It is possible to distinguish between these two similar manifestations if we analyze their motives and manifestations. False humility has the following characteristics:
- A person acts deceitfully, assuming a submissive appearance, but in the end doing exactly the same.
- He tells everyone about how well he did.
- Later, the person uses this occasion for his own benefit.
- Submissive outside, inside continues to consider the opponent wrong.
- The man thinks that he did so well because he is a wonderful Christian.
For example, consider the situation in the family, the husband and wife often conflict, and the wife decided to be submissive to her husband. During another quarrel, she fell silent and admitted that her husband was right, after that she did as she wanted, but hid it, and during a meeting with her friends she boasted how she had mastered this quality - to be humble. Was it right? No, it was a manifestation of false humility, when the wife's motive was pride, they say, “I'm done. And the husband is a fool, ”because she did not do as her husband asked, and then boasted about it.
The power of humility
Why is meekness considered weakness? The answer is simple - people believe that defeating another is important and this is a manifestation of strength. In fact, there is no more experienced and dangerous enemy for a person than himself. Therefore, victory over oneself should be valued higher than victory over one's neighbor.
Humility is always filled with spiritual power that transforms a person and everything around.
To show humility, a person needs remarkable courage, because there is always a fear that because of concessions he will be considered weak. But if you look at the essence of humility, it becomes clear that only a person strong and strong in the Lord can do this. To forgive, to give in is always more difficult than to fight and belittle another. Also in a relationship with the Lord - accepting His will is always more difficult than it seems.
Important! A person must completely trust God, because the path that He has prepared is not always pleasant. More often, the opposite happens, instead of blessings, trials come, and the series of temptations does not stop - the Creator works on the heart of a Christian, making it softer and purer, but this is not always a pleasant process.
Also, people are used to solving all problems on their own, negotiating, finding ways and means, and the more difficult it is to trust and give everything into the hands of God.
Christ as an example of humility
The main example for a Christian, of course, is Jesus Christ. He represents the ideal of a humble person, yet no one can call Jesus weak. If you study the descriptions in the Gospels of the moment of his arrest and interrogation by the Pharisees, then you can understand that Christ was submissive both in relations with people and in relations with God.
When he appeared before the Sanhedrin, he did not argue with the clergy, did not shout and did not prove his case. He was the same before the king and before Pontius Pilate. The questions Christ asked were simple and did not sound haughty or contemptuous. There was humility in His words and there was no challenge, He did not show disrespect or desire to aggravate the conflict.
The Humility of Christ God's will even though he wanted to avoid it, can be seen by reading His prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 6:39). Understanding the importance and necessity of his death, He experienced fear like any person and would like God to deliver Him from it. Nevertheless, he humbly acknowledges God's authority above his own and says, "But Thy will be done."
Jesus Christ had amazing humility and meekness
Even knowing what awaits Him, Christ is submissive to God. However, there is no weakness in His words or deeds. That is why for believers there is no better example of meekness. “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29).
How to learn to be humble
Now, when the value and importance of this benefactor is clear, it is necessary to figure out how to acquire this quality. To begin with, you must have a deep relationship with God, because it is difficult to submit and trust someone whom you do not know at all. Therefore, one should constantly read the Scriptures and the works of the Church Fathers, pray, attend services, confess and take communion. It is necessary to submit your life to God not only in words, but also in deeds.
Since humility is a victory over one's own pride, a number of steps should be taken to humiliate it:
- Always remember that a person is just a speck of dust in the world and he does not decide anything.
- Pray regularly and ask the Lord to help in the fight against pride.
- Know how to say "sorry" or "sorry" in any situation.
- Confess regularly in the temple in order to realize and accept your sinful nature.
- Do good deeds anonymously.
- Accept rebuke with gratitude.
Humility is a virtue that not everyone can comprehend and which the Lord considers one of the most important and valuable: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5). Being a meek person means being strong enough to recognize your neighbor as superior to yourself and completely entrust your life to the Lord.
What is humility? Priest's answer
fall
redemptive sacrifice
Christian worship
Second coming
dispensationalism
Conservatism Liberalism
The presence of humility in a person’s heart is evidenced by deep and lasting peace of mind, love for God and people, compassion for everyone, spiritual silence and joy, the ability to hear and understand the will of God, different points of view and the position of other people, as well as awareness of one’s sinfulness and sincere repentance for every evil deed (and even thought).
The concept of humility as a Christian virtue
No other word is so misunderstood by non-church people (and also by people who are just beginning to become churched) as the word "humility." Under humility, often, quite incorrectly, they mean downtroddenness, humiliation, feelings of guilt, inability and unwillingness to defend, where necessary, the dignity of a person and a Christian. And the meaning of the verb "humble" is usually understood as a synonym for the word "humiliate". But this is a fundamentally wrong understanding of humility as a virtue. In the spiritual life of a Christian, no other virtue means so much and, at the same time, is not given as hard as this one.
Humility – it is a sober vision of oneself. Humility can be conditionally divided into three categories (for ease of perception), but in fact it is one quality in three different manifestations.
Humility towards God- this is a vision of one's sins, hope only in God's mercy, but not in one's own merits, love for Him, combined with the resigned enduring of life's hardships and difficulties. Humility is the desire to subordinate one's will to the holy will of God, the good and all-perfect will. Since the source of any virtue is God, then, together with humility, He Himself dwells in the soul of a Christian. Humility, however, will reign in the soul only when Christ is “depicted” in it (Gal. 4:19).
In addition, humility is characterized by the acceptance of life's hardships and everyday problems without sadness in the heart, with the words "God, Thy will be done for everything." However, humility is not a synonym for the word "inaction" in matters of everyday and personal problems and hardships in a person's life. That is, of course, you need to look for ways to get out of a difficult situation, but if something doesn’t work out, never let sadness or despondency into your heart.
Often, by mistake, humility is identified with thoughtless and irresponsible obedience to some authorities not from God, or obedience to circumstances imposed by life, but in reality humility is life in peace with God, free and courageous agreement with his will, discipleship from Christ and readiness to take on themselves the problems that come from it, carrying the cross.
Humility towards other people- the absence of anger and irritation even at those who, it would seem, deserve it. This sincere gentleness is based on the fact that the Lord loves every person with whom there was a disagreement, just like you. Because every person, regardless of religion, is the image of God.
However, humility does not at all imply indulgence in evil, and meek contemplation when your neighbor is suffering from the evil intent of another person. In this situation, the prevention of violence against one's neighbor does not go against the concept of "humility". Humility is peace with God in any, the most extreme circumstances, a humble person is one who always overcomes evil, but only with good, according to the words of the Apostle Paul, “Overcome evil with good.” Therefore, when we protect our neighbor, i.e. we do good, we conquer evil with good.
Humility towards oneself- a person who has humility in relation to himself does not look for the shortcomings of others, but he perfectly sees his own. Moreover, in any conflict, he blames only himself, and for any accusation or even insult against him, such a person is ready to say sincerely: "I'm sorry."
All patristic literature says that without humility a good deed cannot be done, and many saints said that one can have no other virtue than humility and still be close to God.
Of course, what is said about is an ideal that every Christian, and not just a monk, should strive for, otherwise life in the church, which means the path to God, will be fruitless. It is no coincidence that the root of the word "humility" is the word "peace". The presence of humility in the heart is indeed evidenced by deep and lasting peace of mind, love for God and people, compassion for everyone, spiritual silence and joy, the ability to hear and understand the will of God, different points of view and the position of other people.
Humility in Scripture
In this, as in all other respects, earthly life The Divine Savior is the perfect example and model for believers.
Humility by Clive Staples Lewis
The difference between real and imaginary humility is very well described by C. Lewis in the Letters of Balamut. These are letters written on behalf of an experienced demon (Balamut) to his young nephew (Gnusik) and contain advice on how to tempt a person, lead him away from Christ.
So, in the 14th letter there is a wonderful place that explains the essence of humility in a simple, understandable language. I will also explain that since the correspondence is on behalf of demons, the Lord is called the Enemy in this situation, and everything that is described as good is actually harm to a person, and vice versa:
“My dear Gnusik!
What particularly disturbs me in your report is that the ward is no longer making the presumptuous decisions that accompanied his initial appeal. He does not promise virtue, he does not even expect grace for life - he only hopes every day and hour to receive support for his modest forces so that they are enough to fight temptations. And this is very bad!
Right now I see only one course of action. Your ward has acquired humility - have you noticed this? All virtues are less terrible for us than the virtue of humility, especially when a person is not aware of it in himself. Catch him at the moment when he forgot about spiritual vigilance, slip him a pleasant thought, “But I am becoming humble.” If he wakes up, sees the danger and tries to stifle a new kind of pride, make him proud of this effort, and so on. But don't do it too long, for there is a danger that you will awaken in him a sense of humor and sanity. Then he'll just make fun of you and go to sleep.
But there are other effective ways to focus his attention on this vile virtue. With humility, as with any other virtues, our Enemy wants to divert a person's attention from himself and direct it to Him and to others. All renunciation of oneself and self-abasement exist, after all, precisely for this purpose; as long as they do not serve that purpose, they do little harm. They can even be useful to us if, because of them, a person is interested mainly in himself.
In addition, self-deprecation can be used as a starting point for contempt for others, for sullenness, cynicism and cruelty. Therefore, you must hide from the patient the true purpose of humility. Let him mean by humility a special (namely, bad) opinion about his abilities and his character. I have no doubt that he really has certain abilities. Reinforce him in the thought that humility consists in placing these abilities as low as possible. Of course, they are indeed less valuable than he thinks.
But that's not the point. The most important thing is that he value his opinion more than the truth, and thereby bring at least a grain of dishonesty and far-fetched faith to the very center of what otherwise threatens to become a virtue. With this method, we have made thousands of people think that for beautiful woman humbly consider yourself a freak, for a smart man - consider yourself a fool. And since what they tried to believe in is obvious nonsense, this faith is not given to them, and we can endlessly rotate their thoughts around themselves, because they are trying to achieve the unattainable.
To prevent the attacks of the Enemy, we must know His purposes. The enemy wants to bring a person into a state where he could design the best cathedral in the world, know that this cathedral is good, and rejoice in it, but no more and no less than if someone else had designed it. In essence, the Enemy wants a person to be completely free from prejudice in his favor and to be able to rejoice in his abilities as sincerely and gratefully as in the abilities of his neighbor, a sunrise, an elephant or a waterfall.
He wants every person in the world to see that all beings (including himself) are magnificent and beautiful. He wants to destroy the animal self-adoration in man as soon as possible, but I am afraid His ultimate goal is to restore in him benevolence and mercy towards every creature, including himself. When he really learns to love his neighbor as himself, it will be given to him to love himself as his neighbor. We must never forget the most repulsive and inexplicable feature of our Enemy: He truly loves these hairless bipeds that He has created, and His right hand always returns to them what the left takes away.
Therefore, He will do his best to make your ward stop thinking about what he is worth. He is not happy if people think they are bad. In response to your efforts to slip him vanity or false modesty, He will remind you that no opinion is required from a person at all about his talent, since he can perfectly use it without deciding exactly which of the niches in the temple of glory is intended for him. By all means, you must exclude this Enemy thought from the patient's consciousness. In addition, the Enemy will convince of another truth that they all recognize, but which it is difficult for them to feel: that they did not create themselves, that all their abilities were bestowed by Him, and to be proud of talents is as stupid as to be proud of the color of their hair. The enemy is always trying to distract a person from such pride, and you must fix his attention on it. The enemy does not even want them to delve into their sins beyond measure - the sooner a person gets down to business after repentance, the better for the Enemy.
Your loving Uncle Balamut."
On Humility in Poetry
Humble means to live with a pure heart,
To reconcile means to be open to goodness.
Humility is the key to salvation:
To joy, happiness - in this sinful world
Humility is one very important word,
Humility - able to elevate to the sky,
Humble yourself - under the hand of the Lord God,
And your peace of mind will not be disturbed by problems.
But what are the ways of this wise word?
How can you put it into practice?
The answer will be three simple verbs:
Repent with your heart, forgive and love.
Some sayings about humility
The brother asked the elder: "What is humility?" The elder answered: "Humility consists in doing good to those who do evil to us." The brother objected: "If a person has not reached such a measure, what should he do?" The elder said: "Let him avoid people, choosing silence as his feat" (St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov))
It is not the one who shows humility who condemns himself... but the one who, being rooted by others, does not diminish love for him. (Rev. John of the Ladder)
Whoever desires to be like God, let him be, according to human strength, meek and humble.
The humble one is not humiliated in deprivation and poverty, and is not haughty in prosperity and glory, but constantly abides in the same virtue.
The humble person does not envy the success of his neighbor, does not rejoice in his contrition, but, on the contrary, rejoices with those who rejoice and weeps with those who weep.
The humble does not slander brother against brother (this is a satanic act), but serves as a peacemaker for them, not repaying evil for evil.
Often we ourselves do not know that we are praying, asking: “If only I could be saved, if only I could avoid danger”, “Heaven, help!” - all these are prayers to our Great God. And He responded to your requests, expressed and not expressed - remember happy meetings, suddenly successful exams, unexpected happy pregnancy, Good work… It seems to us that all these are cases — but the Lord really manages our lives for the better, showing our capabilities, leading to gratitude to God for everything. Humility in the face of difficulties, turning to God with prayer at this time is the key to our salvation and upbringing of the soul, personal growth. Not a single psychologist is able to change, to make the soul happy in such a moment, as the Lord does.
Humility in Orthodoxy
The teaching of the Lord Jesus is a call to repentance, to the love of all people for all people, compassion and pity even for terrible sinners. In response to sincere prayer, first of all, peace, clarity and tranquility will appear in the soul, according to the testimony of many people - and this is truly a miracle that happens to every believer. Try also to talk with the priest if you have life's difficulties and spiritual anxiety.
But we ourselves must strive for a life pleasing to God, visit the temple, pray at the service, help people, forgive the sins and mistakes of our neighbors, and behave calmly in conflicts.
God's grace is given to us only through humility, acceptance of God's will for us, reading prayers, fulfilling God's commandments, attending church services.
The most important thing is to remember that "the power of God is perfected in weakness (weakness)," as the apostle Paul says in the Epistle to the Corinthians. Human weakness is expressed in the fact that he gives himself into the hands of God, becoming flexible, allowing God to act and helping Him with human strength, but without being proud and hoping for God's help. A humble person acts, but does not grumble before difficulties, prays and waits for God's will for himself.
God of Humility - Christ
The Lord Himself showed us the pattern of humility through His life and death. Before the Crucifixion at the Last Supper, the Lord gave the last instructions to the apostles, again reminded that He must leave them, perishing. Christ calls the disciples children—as never before—and calls them to love one another as God Himself loves them. For the sake of strengthening their faith and the birth of the Church, fastened by the Body of Christ Himself, the Lord performs and establishes forever the greatest Sacrament, which fastened New Testament between God and man is the Sacrament of the Eucharist (Greek thanksgiving), in Russian usually called the Sacrament of Communion.
Christ took bread into His hands and, blessing with a sign, broke it, then poured out wine and distributed everything to the disciples, saying: “Take and eat: this is My Body and My Blood.” With these words, priests to this day bless wine and bread at the Liturgy, when they are transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Christ.
The meal was served in the evening, since Christ followed one of the Jewish traditions of the Old (Old) Testament, on the basis of which he established the traditions of the New Testament without destroying the former ones. So, on that day, the feast of Passover was celebrated, the memory of the exodus of the ancestors of the Jews from Egypt at night. On that ancient day, each Jewish family she was supposed to slaughter a lamb and make a mark with its blood on the doors so that the Lord would not direct his wrath on them. It was the sign of the selection of the Jews. God the Father on that day punished the Egyptians for keeping the Jews in slavery by the death of their firstborn. Only after this terrible execution, the pharaoh released the tribe of Jews, led by the prophet Moses, to the Promised Land of God.
Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, remembering this feast, establishes a new one: God no longer needs the sacrificial killing of animals and sacrificial blood, because the only Sacrificial Lamb, the Lamb, remains the Son of God Himself, Who dies so that the wrath of God for every sin passes away the person who believes in Christ who partake of Him.
Then the Lord went to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane with the disciples. According to the evangelists, Christ prayed three times, until he sweated blood. In the first prayer, He asked God the Father not to drink the Cup of suffering, saying at the same time that it should be done as God wanted it to be. Christ expressed his fear, longing for torment. Then He prayed with complete submission to the will of God and the understanding that He would not escape torment. The Evangelist Luke writes that at that time God the Father sent Him an Angel who supported Christ. For the third time, the Lord repeated the words of His acceptance of the will of God and turned to the disciples, waking them up and saying that a traitor was approaching, who would deliver Him into the hands of sinners. He even urged the disciples to go with Him in order to surrender to the guards Himself.
Christ knew and even told the Apostle Peter that by one word of His from the beginning, Legions of Angels would protect Him. That is, He did not humiliate Himself, His Teaching and God-fatherhood. But He went without anger to death for all people.
Poverty is humility?
Someone doubts: is it possible to ask for material prosperity if you yearn for poverty, lack of money? After all, the apostles were poor fishermen, and many saints were poor, and the Lord Himself did not know where to rest in wanderings. It is true, that is why Christ Himself and His saints know how difficult it is for an unsecured person to live, especially in the modern world.
The Orthodox Church blesses the desire to provide for oneself and one's family. Transferring poverty, laboring without grumbling at God is a good deed, because vice, according to the proverb, is not poverty, but laziness. The material resources that are spent on children, on the quiet life of the family, on helping the poor, are a blessing from God. Christ glorifies humility, not poverty. This virtue in Orthodox asceticism means the calm acceptance of difficulties and troubles, the absence of malice and sinful life in a difficult situation.
There are also spiritual remedy from poverty - a prayer to St. Spyridon of Trimifuntsky as a saint who understands all material difficulties, because he lived all his life in poverty and always helps in various difficulties.
Humility and patience
A humble person does not lose heart in sorrows, but entrusts himself to the will of God. Heaviness in the heart, longing will not have their strength if a person is churched, believes in God, goes to church, visits church services and partakes of the Mysteries of Christ, tries to find humility.
Feeling discouraged or desperate is not a sin. You must immediately turn to God's help, do not "force" yourself with fun, endure and overpower yourself.
Despondency and despair become a sin when we curse God, we believe that He is to blame for our misfortunes, that He does not help us. Try to learn from the situations you find yourself in. Prayer will always help
- Protect yourself and your loved ones from the influence of dark spirits (after all, despondency is even called the "midday demon");
- Preserve peace, peace and prosperity;
- You entrust yourself to the protection of God, which means that you are fulfilling God's command about humility and trust in Him. FROM God's help you must be calm.
There are a number of prayers to the saints, miraculous icons Mother of God and prayers, which have a special grace to help with depression, longing, mental laziness, in certain hopeless circumstances
Orthodox psychology about humility
In films, the life of the main characters is beautiful and carefree after a declaration of love. And family problems become the subject of fun in comedy series. Meanwhile, we face many problems in marriage. Elder Paisius Svyatogorets said that the family is our opportunity to take on a feat equal to the feat of holy ascetic monks. Indeed, in the family we find ourselves next to a person who was brought up in conditions different from our life, who has other habits.
However, it is also true that the family is a small Church. And the main ways of salvation are family life and monastic life. Only they are the most favorable for the cultivation of the virtues of patience and humility necessary for every person. Saints are the faithful helpers of believers. With a prayer for imminent marriage or marriage and happy marriage it is customary to turn to those saints who became famous for their prosperous family life or worked miracles to help married couples.
Having created a family, you need to be able to save it. Mutual understanding, care and careful attitude to each other - a pledge of love for life. Difficulties family life covered by the help of God. After all, the head of the family is the husband, and the head of the husband is Christ. Turn to the Lord as a powerful Patron of your family.
Prayer for Humility
If there are problems, misunderstandings, or even betrayals in your family, it is important to pray more to God, the Mother of God, to the saints. Prayer is help in any difficult situation. Pray in case of poverty, troubles, material difficulties - after all, the Lord is the first Helper to every person in any difficult circumstances. Crises often occur in long-term relationships. Sometimes it seems that the family is collapsing, people want to disperse and never see each other. Alas, violation of fidelity in marriage, betrayal, deceit - all these sins are inherent in people. Sometimes, not out of malice, but through negligence, your spouse can inflict such a wound on you. However, it is easier to destroy than to build. Try to keep the family together with your joint prayers.
Read in the morning and evening, or during a quarrel, move away and pray in front of one of the icons with the prayer of the Mother of God for your family:
“My Most Holy Lady Theotokos, take my family under Your Protection. Instill in the hearts of my wife (wife) and our children peace, love and all that is good. Help, Mother of God, so that together we glorify Your name and Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, always, now and forever, and forever and ever. Amen".
Read online prayer Archangel Barahiel about the blessing of God and humility can be found in the text below:
“O great archangel of God, Archangel Varahiel! Standing before the Throne of God and from there bringing God's blessings to the homes of His faithful servants, ask the Lord God for mercy and blessings on our family, may the Lord God bless us and increase prosperity in our house, give abundance, health and salvation, good help in everything, enemies visible and invisible victory, and will save us for many years for earthly life and the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen".
Icon of the Mother of God "Look at humility"
Among the icons of the most common type of "Hodegetria" - "Guidebook", the icon of the Mother of God "Look at humility" is considered an interesting miraculous image.
Image Holy Lady“Prizri for humility” belongs to the iconographic type “Hodegetria” - in Russian this Greek word is translated as a Guide or Pointing the Way.
The theological meaning of the icon “Look at humility” is similar to other images of the Hodegetria. Virgin Mary gesture right hand points those who pray to Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. She reveals to people the Royal God-Infant, showing that only through faith in Christ can one find the true life path the road to the Kingdom of Heaven. And the earthly path must be passed with dignity in order to achieve salvation.
In addition, the Mother of God Herself represents the road to God. She becomes a companion for people through prayers to Her; She is also the bridge that connected man and God, because it was through Her that the Lord assumed human nature.
The name has several meanings:
- The Great Lord in the Holy Trinity contemplated (from Church Slavonic - looked at a person and fulfilled a prayer) the humility and meekness of the young Virgin Mary, virtuous and obedient to the commandments of God.
- Humility is a virtue that means acceptance of God's will for oneself. The Lord expresses it in the circumstances of life. But at the same time, we can ask the Lord to ease our sufferings and difficulties, most importantly - not with a rebellious, but with a humble heart. Therefore, we ask the Lord and His Mother to “look at our humility, our difficulties” and help us. It is also worth praying for a calm, humble acceptance of difficulties and life circumstances at the icon “Look for humility“.
- Finally, the name of the icon refers the worshiper to Psalm 30, translated into Russian: “I will rejoice and rejoice, thanks to Your mercy, because You, Lord, looked (looked) at my humility, saved me from disasters.” This means that the Lord saves a person in trouble, sees him always. In addition, the symbols of royal power in the hands of the Virgin and Christ refer to this meaning: the fate of the world is in the hand of the Lord, and He will always help the needy and repentant.
It should be noted that the list of the icon "Look for humility" and its wonderful "list" - miraculous imprint on glass recently became famous for miracles in Kyiv. In 1917, with the beginning of the revolution and the persecution of the Church, the icon “Look for humility” was hidden by the priest Boris Kvasnitsky, who gave the miraculous image to the nun Theophania before his arrest, and 55 years later, according to the will of the schema nun Theophania, he was transferred to the Holy Vvedensky monastery. This happened around 1993-1994.
In 1993, the abbot of this monastery decided that the icon needed to be restored: the colors of the image became cloudy. Having called for restorers, the priests removed the glass from the icon: suddenly there was an imprint of the image on it - like a negative, a black-and-white image or an engraving on glass.
It was obvious that a miracle had been revealed - however, there were also skeptics who believed that the image was man-made. Then scientists were invited directly to the monastery, the glass with a miraculous imprint was given for examination, which lasted several years. The following is known today:
- The imprint on the glass is not man-made.
- The image is of organic origin (the structure of the material, the glass on which it was created has been changed).
- The light gray figures of the Mother of God and the Child on a dark background create a negative image, and on a light one - a positive one.
Many miracles from this icon have been recorded. This icon of the Mother of God has great grace: the image helps parents and children, the sick and the elderly a lot. They pray to the Mother of God in front of the icon "Look for humility" also, of course
- About finding humility, tranquility;
- About justification in case of injustice and slander;
- On the strengthening of faith in times of persecution and sorrow.
- About the treatment of infertility;
- About safe and timely childbirth;
- On the improvement and healing of diseases of speech and hearing.
May the Lord give you true humility!
