"God will have a humble people. Either we can choose to be humble or we can be compelled to be humble. Alma said, 'Blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble.' (Alma 32:16.)
"Let us choose to be humble.
"We can choose to humble ourselves by conquering enmity toward our brothers and sisters, esteeming them as ourselves, and lifting them as high or higher than we are.
"We can choose to humble ourselves by receiving counsel and chastisement.
"We can choose to humble ourselves by forgiving those who have offended us.
"We can choose to humble ourselves by rendering selfless service.
"We can choose to humble ourselves by going on missions and preaching the word that can humble others.
"We can choose to humble ourselves by getting to the temple more frequently.
"We can choose to humble ourselves by confessing and forsaking our sins and being born of God.
"We can choose to humble ourselves by loving God, submitting our will to His, and putting Him first in our lives.
"Let us choose to be humble. We can do it. I know we can."
- Ezra Taft Benson, "Beware of Pride," Ensign, May 1989, pp. 4-7
Click here to read the full talk
President Benson's talk titled "Beware of Pride" in the April 1989 general conference is one of the modern classics. It is full of insight and inspiration. In this segment, he presents ideas about the positive alternative to pride: humility. This is the foundational insight:
So it's a wise person who will choose to become humble without compulsion. President Benson then gives examples of how we go about making that choice — the kind of actions that lead to humility. It would be wise for each reader to consider the list looking for an area of focus; or to perhaps let the list be an inspiration for finding some other area that will be a personal blessing leading to progress in this area.
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