ACCEPTANCE IS THE STARTING POINT FOR CHANGE
If you want to change your life or yourself, but are stuck at some point, perhaps you need to learn acceptance.
Many people go out of their way to avoid acceptance, seeing it as a sign of weakness and a rejection of their own goals.
In fact, it is a source of personal power and a starting point for genuine change.
What is acceptance? Adoption- this is an internal state akin to humility. Maybe. is that why it is perceived negatively - considered synonymous with weak-willed submission?
To accept the lack of something means for many people to give up getting what they want. It is easier for deeply religious people to accept this position: everything is God’s will.
And life is also simple for sloths who carelessly float with the flow of life without goals or special passions. The rest of the people fight for their goals to the last drop of blood.
In fact, acceptance is not a refusal of what you want, but a temporary pause. Sometimes life teaches those who are too arrogant, proud and arrogant through humility and acceptance. Sometimes it allows us to see a simpler path that we are not able to see in the struggle.
Acceptance promotes objectivity: in a calm state, you can analyze what is happening and choose an adequate solution. Resistance, on the contrary, deprives you of the ability to think clearly - emotions overshadow the abilities of the mind and do not allow you to hear the prompts of intuition.
By accepting the situation, you do not give up your desires and do not agree with the negative scenario.
It’s just that now you take the world for granted, state the facts as they are. Inside at the same time:
- emotional balance:
- inner peace
- lack of struggle and resistance
- lack of value judgments and criticism
- the situation is perceived as solvable
- feeling of security
The first thing to do is to stop automatic reactions to the situation.
It is impossible to be in a constant state of power. The relentless struggle is exhausting. If you find yourself in a situation where any actions do not bring the desired result, then it is time to take a lesson in acceptance.
Stop and accept everything that happens as it is: people, circumstances, health, weather, income level and tantrums from your boss or relatives.
Now everything is exactly like that. These are factual circumstances, accept them calmly. Let go of struggle and resistance.
Of course, peace will not just reign inside. It is necessary to carry out internal work: forgive someone, stop proving your position, loosen control. Lessons are different. Acceptance of people, yourself and life in general.
Acceptance does not mean that a person should love what is happening and agree to live with it further. It's about experiencing the world without judging, fighting, or trying to escape..
A simple statement of facts against the backdrop of inner peace. You will certainly change the situation, but first create inner peace and trust. In a state of acceptance, you are completely transparent, there is nothing inside to cling to. There are either no negative emotions, or they calmly float through you.
You must first accept yourself, all your fears, doubts, negative thoughts and emotions. First, just acknowledge the fact of their existence. A simple statement of fact.
There is no point in avoiding outbursts of anger or fear: sooner or later they will overtake you anyway. Better is conscious acceptance. Turn to face your shadow side. When you take an honest look at yourself and discover not only the good but also the bad, it will become easier for you to accept other people.
Sometimes, on the contrary, it is necessary to see and recognize one’s uniqueness, the right to recognition and approval. This applies to those who tend to self-criticism. Allow yourself and others to make mistakes, and let go of high expectations.
And remember: everyone has their own truth. Accept this attitude, it will save you from exhausting arguments. Your truth may be different from other people's truth. Without accepting the current reality, it is impossible to move on.
Acceptance is the starting point for the further journey. Acceptance returns personal power and closes the channels of leakage of your energy. You no longer waste your energy on changing other people, empty arguments in an attempt to prove that you are right and true. You have become much freer and stronger.
R.S. If we take psychological attitudes, meditations, trainings as a basis, then yes - ACCEPTANCE...
But if we turn to the state of our own development, the development of the SOUL, then only the concept of HUMILITY is suitable.
And it is a big mistake to replace Humility with patience, not resistance... These are external forms of reaction of human behavior.
Berdyaev on humility:
“Humility is the opening of the soul to reality...
Considering yourself the worst sinner is the same conceit as considering yourself a saint... Humility is not the self-destruction of the human will, but enlightenment and free submission to its truth.”
From the point of view of situations and circumstances of life, as external reflections of the internal state of a person’s soul, humility is presented as a holistic perception of life.
Humility is revealed in a person in the process of spiritual growth and exit beyond your own ego, actively controlling a person’s soul and limiting its manifestations through the creation of negative reactions as a method of self-defense, which shares the unified process of realizing life.
From a point of view that divides the sense of human dignity into the dignity of the ego and the dignity of the divine principle in man, humility as a humiliation of the dignity of the ego-personality does not mean humiliation of the dignity of the divine principle, since it cannot be humiliated.
Pride- this is an unwillingness to come to terms with what you have and to thank life and the Creator for everything.
Pride tells us: how unfair life is to you! Pride entails feelings such as envy, grumbling at fate, and self-pity. The opposite quality of pride is humility. Humility is the most powerful medicine in cases of despondency. "
ON THE. Berdyaev
Humility - how to learn to accept
Humility is, first of all, living with peace in the Soul! At peace with yourself, in harmony with the world around you and God. Humility is the internal acceptance of situations that happen to us. Any situation, no matter what areas of life it concerns.
For example, Ayurveda - Vedic medicine, believes that a sick person has no chance of being healed if he does not accept his illness. Almost any disease can be cured, but only when a person has internally accepted it, humbled himself, understood why the disease came into his life, and worked through the tasks that the disease sets for him. It’s the same with all difficult situations in life – until you accept it, you won’t change it.
How to understand whether I accept the situation or not. If I accept it, there is peace inside me, nothing bothers me, nothing stresses me out about the situation. I think about her and speak calmly. Inside there is complete calm and relaxation. If I don’t accept it, then there is tension inside, internal dialogue, complaints, resentments, irritation, etc. Pain. The more pain, the more rejection. As soon as we take it, the pain goes away.
Many people understand weakness and humiliation by the word acceptance or humility. They say I’ve resigned myself, which means I’ll sit with my hands folded and come what may, let everyone wipe their feet on me. In fact, true humility gives dignity to a person. Humility and acceptance within are internal qualities, and on the external level I take some actions.
Let's look at a few examples:
1. We often encounter difficulties in personal relationships. Our head has a different picture of the relationship with our loved one than the one we get in reality. In our head, both the image and the behavior of a loved one are different than what we receive in fact. It is the discrepancy between the desired and the actual that causes us suffering and pain. Often we see the root of our troubles not in ourselves, but in others. Now he will change and I will stop suffering. Remember, the cause of troubles is not in another person or his behavior, the cause is in us and in our attitude towards a loved one.
First of all, we must accept reality as it is. Our reality is created by our subconscious programs and God. We don't actually get what we want, but what we deserve. This is how the law of karma works - what goes around comes around. The current reality was sown by us, by some of our actions in the past - in this or a past life. Protesting and suffering is stupid and not constructive! It is much more constructive to internally accept reality as it is. Accept your loved one for who he is, with all his shortcomings and advantages, with all his attitude towards us. Take responsibility for everything that happens in our lives - for events, for people, for their attitude towards us - onto ourselves! Only I am responsible for what happens in my life.
We “pulled” everything to ourselves. It is my actions and energies that force the other person to act towards me in a way that may not be entirely pleasant for me. Our own karma comes to us through those close to us. And then, rolling up your sleeves, you need to begin the internal work. Everything that happens to us here is lessons. Our loved ones are our most important Teachers. Every difficult situation is sent to us not to fight it, but to educate us. Thanks to this situation, we can understand life more deeply, change something in ourselves for the better, develop unconditional love, rise to a new level of development, gain some life experience necessary for our Soul, and pay off our karmic debt.
Only after accepting the situation can you finally begin to think about what is actually being taught. Why is this situation sent to us? By what behavior and thoughts did we bring this situation to life?! Maybe we are not coping with our role as a man or a woman, are we developing qualities that are alien to our nature? This means we must go and gain knowledge on how to properly perform our role. How a man should act in this world and how a woman should act, so that it would be in harmony with the laws of the Universe. I always say that in order to be a man or a woman, it is not enough to be born in a male or female body. You have to become a Man or a Woman – this is a big task in life. And with the implementation of this task our destiny in the world begins.
But this is not the only cause of problems in relationships, although it is, of course, the most global and it is from this that all other problems in gender relations are born. Again, each case is of course very individual. Maybe this situation teaches us self-respect and we should say no to relationships. Or maybe we need to learn to stand up for ourselves, not allow another person to insult, humiliate, and God forbid beat us. Those. Having internally accepted the situation, I now defend myself not with emotions of resentment and irritation, but with emotions of love for myself and for others, with emotions of acceptance. Those. Internally we have complete calm - but externally we may say rather harsh words, take some measures, do not allow ourselves to be insulted, and firmly put the other person in his place. Those. we act on an external level without getting involved in emotion, not from the position of Ego and resentment - we act from the position of the Soul.
He who has humility imitates Christ Himself. Such a person never loses his temper, does not condemn anyone and does not become arrogant. Never craves power, avoids human glory. Doesn't swear for any reason.
He is not insolent when talking and always listens to other people's advice. Avoids beautiful clothes, his appearance is simple and modest.
A person who meekly endures all humiliation and humiliation receives great benefit from this. Therefore, do not be sad, but, on the contrary, rejoice that you are suffering. In this way you gain precious humility that saves you.
“I humbled myself, and He saved me” (Ps. 114:5). You should always keep these words in mind.
Don't be upset when you are judged. Sadness over such an occasion means that you have vanity. Anyone who wants to be saved must fall in love with human contempt, because contempt brings humility. And humility frees a person from many temptations.
Never be jealous, do not envy, do not strive for fame, do not seek high positions. Try to always live unnoticed. It’s better not to let the world know you, because the world leads into temptation. With his vain speeches and empty incitements, he deceives us and causes us spiritual harm.
Your goal should be to achieve humility. To be the lowest. Considering that you are not doing anything worthy of your salvation. You must pray to God to save you according to his goodness.
Humility, obedience and fasting give rise to the fear of God, and the fear of God is the beginning of true wisdom.
Do everything you do with humility, so as not to suffer from your own good deeds. Don't think that only those who work hard get great rewards. Anyone who has good will and, along with it, humility, even without being able to do much and without being skilled in anything, will be saved.
Humility is achieved through self-reproach, that is, the conviction that you are essentially not doing anything good. Woe to the one who considers his sins insignificant. He will certainly fall into more serious sin.
A person who humbly endures all condemnation directed at him approaches perfection. Even the Angels admire him, because there is no more difficult to achieve and greater virtue than humility.
Poverty, sorrow and contempt are the crowns for a monk. When a monk meekly endures rudeness, slander and contempt, he easily frees himself from bad thoughts.
The awareness of one’s weakness before God is also worthy of praise. This is knowing yourself. “I cry and lament,” says Saint Simeon the New Theologian, “when the light illuminates me, and I see my poverty and know where I am.” When a person recognizes his spiritual poverty and realizes what level he really is at, then the light of Christ will shine in his soul, and he will begin to cry (talking about this, the elder was moved and began to cry).
If another person calls you selfish, don’t let it make you sad or upset. Just think to yourself: “Perhaps I am like that and I don’t understand it myself.” One way or another, we should not depend on other people's opinions. Let everyone look into their conscience and be guided by the words of experienced and knowledgeable friends, and first of all, ask for forgiveness from their confessor. And on the basis of all this he builds his spiritual path.
You write that you cannot fight. Do you know why this happens? Because you don't have enough humility. You believe that you can achieve this only on your own. But when you humble yourself and say: “By the power of Christ, the help of the Mother of God and the prayer of the elder, I will achieve what I want,” be sure that you will succeed.
I, of course, do not have such prayer power, but when you, having humbled yourself, say: “With the prayer of the elder, I can do everything,” then, according to your humility, the grace of God will begin to act, and everything will work out.
God looks upon “the humble and the contrite” (Isa. 66:2). But for meekness, calmness and humility to come, work is necessary. This work is rewarded. To gain humility, it seems to me, you do not need numerous bows and obediences, but first of all, your thoughts must descend down to the earth itself. Then you will not have the fear of falling, because you are already below. And if you fall while you’re below, you won’t get hurt.
In my opinion, although I certainly don’t read much or do anything extraordinary, humility is the shortest path to a person’s salvation. Abba Isaiah says: “Teach your tongue to ask for forgiveness, and humility will come to you.” Train yourself to say “Forgive me,” even if at first it is unconscious, and gradually you will get used to not only saying these words, but also feeling it in your heart.
The saints teach that no matter how great your goodwill is when you ask for forgiveness - in other words, humility - God will enlighten the other so that the desired truce between you can be achieved. When you lament and say, “I am guilty, but I don’t realize it,” soon you will be able to say, “Yes, I am indeed guilty.” And when you convince yourself that you are truly guilty, the other person will also change his attitude towards you.
Persistently ask God to give you the gift of self-reproach and humility.
When praying, ask God to give you the ability to see only your own sins and not notice the sins of others. “Grant me to see my sins and not condemn my brother,” says Saint Ephraim the Syrian.
A humble person considers himself the lowest among all. And therefore he loves everyone, forgives everyone and, most importantly, does not condemn anyone.
Translation from Modern Greek: editors of the online publication “Pemptusia”
How can you overcome pride and develop humility?
First, you need to understand one important law of life: there are no coincidences. Everything that happens to us, literally everything, no matter how small or great, is a consequence of our life up to this moment and is aimed at our good.
“Everything that is done is for the better” is one of the sides of this law. “Everything that doesn’t kill us makes us stronger,” also from here.
In the Gospel there are amazing words of Christ addressed to people: “Are not five small birds sold for two assars? and not one of them is forgotten by God. And even the hairs on your head are all numbered. So do not be afraid: you are worth more than many small birds.”
In the Bible, God tells people about his care for us: “Shall a woman forget her suckling child, lest she have compassion on the son of her womb? But even if she forgot, I will not forget you” (Is. 49:15). The proverb says the same thing: “No father is to his children, as God is to his people.”
Therefore, everything He does is aimed at our good. And if all external influences on us are directed for the better, then how can something happen that we should be upset about?
No! Nothing like this can happen to us.
But why then do all sorts of troubles and misfortunes happen to us?
If we believe pride, which tells us that we are the greatest and most beautiful, we will never understand the causes of troubles. But the look of pride is false, false. A sober, honest look is a look of humility.
Humility tells us that we, like everyone else, have many shortcomings. We will be better off the less of these shortcomings we have, the more perfect we become.
This is exactly what the Lord wants us to do, allowing us all these troubles. It is “allowing”, not “sending”. Because the real cause of unhappiness is our previous life and our shortcomings.
How are our shortcomings related to these troubles and how do these troubles help us improve? Let's look at a few typical examples.
The first plot. The man was cruel in his youth. He often caused mental and sometimes even physical pain to loved ones. One day he was severely beaten on the street and his spine was broken. He spent about a year in the hospital and endured a lot. He could have become bitter towards fate and people, but he understood everything correctly, rethought it and, having experienced suffering, became more compassionate and caring towards people.
The second plot. The girl often changed men. In the end, she married a man whom she stole from someone else's family. A few years later he left her for a younger woman. She went through a very difficult period in her life. She could have become embittered at her husband and fate, but she managed to accept this as a result of her previous mistakes. She repented of them and began to live chastely, waiting for truly her man.
The third plot. The man was extremely greedy for money. He valued money not only above honor, but even above love. He directed all his strength, all his mind towards getting rich. But for some reason he was worse at it than those who had less greed. All his enterprises sooner or later failed, barely approaching success. He could have spent his whole life on this crazy race, but after another crash, he managed to come to terms with the fact that he would not become rich. And I became much happier. And then the money came. Sami.
In the third plot, the goal could not be money, but fame, power, or the opportunity to realize one’s talent for one’s own personal purposes. There is only one result.
The fourth plot. The man was born disabled. He could only get around in a wheelchair. He heard wonderful stories about how healthy, beautiful girls fell in love with disabled people and married them, after which they literally and figuratively carried them in their arms all their lives. Years passed, he looked for such a girl, but did not find him. Dreams melted away. He could fall into despair, drink himself to death or commit suicide. But he was able to accept his fate. Instead of the love of a girl, he found the love of God. And his soul became beautiful. Life remained outwardly meager, but inwardly it became joyful. Later he realized that external ugliness was a means of decorating his soul, which was too proud and therefore could not love. This ugliness cured him of pride and made him happy. If he had been born healthy, then as a result of the progression of pride, he would have committed suicide at the age of 15.
I hope you noticed that in each story, at a critical moment, a person had a choice - to become even more embittered or to resign himself. It is very important! We are free people and always choose between evil and good. No misfortune in itself will make us better if we ourselves do not apply our minds and efforts.
Any trouble is called a temptation, a test, because this is how we test ourselves - to what we direct our will - towards good, humility or towards evil, pride. If we turn to pride, we fall even lower, and the next test will be even harder. If it’s good, we gain humility and make our lives easier.
But even if we understand everything and want to come to terms, we may not have enough strength on our own to do so. Or rather, it probably won’t be enough. Because pride is promoted by the power of the enemy, the power of evil spirits. And in order to defeat it, we need the opposite – Divine power. She is always ready to come to our aid. “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
No good deed can be accomplished successfully if one acts lazily or thoughtlessly. The work on oneself that we are talking about must be done thoughtfully. So how can you overcome pride and develop humility?
First, we need to strive for a sober view of ourselves. The most objective evidence of what kind of person I am is my reaction to a certain situation. It's very simple. Let's say they stole my money. The amount is not such that I would start starving after this, but still very, very unpleasant. This means there is pride, and perhaps a passion for money.
And try to notice the good in other people. The goal of this activity is to stop considering yourself some kind of outstanding person. Come down to earth, get closer to people. When you are very ascendant, mentally repeating the phrase “I am the worst of all” will help.
There are such amazing words from one of the Church Fathers: “Blessed is not the one who works miracles, but the one who sees his sins as the sand of the sea.” Now you won’t understand this and maybe you won’t even believe it, but there is such a pattern: the better a person becomes, the more sins he sees in himself. Because there is more and more light in his soul, and he already discerns such small vices that he did not notice in the twilight. And we have many vices. Everyone without exception. And if we seem good to ourselves, this only speaks of our darkness, spiritual blindness. And spiritual blindness does not simply mean that we do not see ourselves (they say, let’s turn on the light - and there is purity and beauty), but the fact that we are especially strongly affected by passions - they have blinded us.
Secondly, you need to be educated religiously. The goal is to stop seeing yourself as the beginning and end of everything. Begin to discern patterns in your life, and see the participation of God in it, as well as dark spirits. How can we not be proud while we attribute our talents to ourselves? Meanwhile, this is His gift, which He is strong enough to take away. A believer understands that being proud of the talents given to you is the same as showing off someone else’s jewelry.
As wild as it may seem, especially darkened people are capable of being proud of the scale of the evil they commit. But when they understand that this is not their will, that they are puppets in the hands of Satan, who laughs at them, hates them, and destroys them, it turns out that there is nothing to be proud of. On the contrary, it is a shame and ruin.
Thirdly, always do the opposite of what pride wants us to do. As a rule, she wants us to grumble about God, despondency, and angry feelings towards other people. The opposite will be gratitude to God, joy, good deeds towards those with whom we want to be angry.
The essence of humility is expressed in a short prayer: “Glory to God!” or “Thank God for everything!” Therefore, when we want to destroy, break, cry, fight, and the like, we will instead, in defiance of our pride, say: “Glory to God for everything!” Thus, we will apply our will in defiance of pride, and call upon God’s power to help.
You can start small. We all have small mistakes when something falls out of our hands, or we hit something, or we find that we have forgotten or lost something. Usually in such situations a proud person swears. Let us accustom ourselves at such moments to say, instead of swearing: “Glory to God!”
It's not difficult at all. And a miracle will happen - after a few months you will see that such little things no longer upset you at all, you maintain a peaceful mood. This is the beginning of humility.
What is the mechanism of this miracle? The mechanism is simple. Satan doesn't want you to pray and praise God. After all, this is for your benefit, and Satan’s goal is to destroy. As soon as he sees that you always respond to the evil thoughts he inspires with prayer, he will immediately leave you behind. He's understanding.
With the weapon of grateful prayer you can overcome any misfortune, any sorrow.
As for some of our global plans, desires, dreams, it will be much better for us if we simply have a realistic, sober approach to all this.
Let's say a commander draws up a battle plan. He has an accurate map of the area, an accurate knowledge of his forces and their disposition, and a fairly accurate knowledge of the enemy's forces. With all this knowledge, as well as knowledge of military tactics, the commander can draw up a battle plan that will bring victory.
Now let's look at ourselves. Do we know ourselves well - our good and evil qualities, our maximum capabilities, all our talents? Do we understand how our desires correspond to our real needs? How much do we know about the laws of life? How well are we familiar with the forces that oppose us, seek to torment us and drive us to suicide? If you are fully informed on all these issues, then you have a good chance of making a plan that will come true.
But the problem is that this is unlikely to be the case. After all, we are blinded by pride and have little interest in what really matters in this battle. Therefore, our dreams have little chance of coming true. “God grant that our calf may eat the wolf.”
These are the plans of the commander, in front of whom is a map of the plain, although in reality he will have to fight in the mountains; His idea of his own strength is exaggerated, and his idea of the enemy is greatly underestimated. And he doesn’t know that he can call for help from an ally, whose powerful army is half an hour away, just waiting for a signal.
Let's not waste energy on making stupid, unrealistic plans that will certainly collapse! What will seem like a victory to us until the last moment will certainly turn out to be a defeat. Let's try to better understand the plans that that Ally has about us, who knows everything, has the most accurate maps, and whose army is invulnerable and invincible.
The Apostle James said: “Now listen to you who say: “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and we will live there for one year, and we will trade and make a profit”; you who do not know what will happen tomorrow: for what is your life? steam that appears for a short time and then disappears. Instead of saying: “If the Lord wills and we live, we will do this and that,” you, in your arrogance, become vain: all such vanity is evil.”
Book of Proverbs: “There are many plans in the heart of man, but only what the Lord has determined will come to pass.”
Russian proverbs say the same thing: “Everything in the world is created not by our minds, but by God’s judgment,” “You can’t make money with your sinews, what God won’t give,” “You can’t take it from God by force,” “Man is one way, but God is another,” “You are for the worse, but God is for the better”, “Don’t live as you want, but as God commands”, “Without God you can’t reach the threshold.”
You will certainly have success in life, you will achieve goals, you will have happiness. But all this will happen only when you begin to coordinate your goals and actions with God’s will. Whether you like it or not (and you should like it), this is how it is. David, who defeated the hero Goliath and later from a simple shepherd became the greatest king of powerful, invincible Israel, knew what he was saying when he said: “Commit your way to the Lord and trust in Him, and He will perfect and bring forth your righteousness and your justice is like the noonday. Submit to the Lord and trust in Him. Do not be jealous of the one who succeeds in his way, the wicked man. Stop being angry and leave rage; Do not be so jealous as to do evil, for those who do evil will be destroyed, but those who trust in the Lord will inherit the earth.” King David spoke from experience. And there is no greater success than his.
But before we rush to the top, we need to come to terms with what we have.
Yes, you may not have strength as a result of depression. But the forces you need are there. God has them. And He will be glad to give them to you. He wants it.
Just stop slandering Him, complaining and grumbling. Ask Him for forgiveness for all your grumbling and trust Him, and come under the protection of the Father so that He will heal your wounds.
Christ has it in his bosom - good.
This quality cannot be learned if you do not understand its essence. Humility is often confused with the herd of sheep in society, quiet behavior, simply patience and hiding your dissatisfied or embittered essence - but this is just an appearance. True humility, which is from God, must come from the inner world of a person, and one of the most difficult tasks is to learn just such humility.
The most important thing, dear friends, is that we understand that the basis of humility is honesty with ourselves. Before having humility, it is important to understand our significance in life: have we really achieved anything ourselves? What are we really worth? And we repeat, friends: it is important to try to approach such issues as HONESTLY as possible. And now, we will give five clear examples that will help us put ourselves “in the place” that we truly deserve.
1. Example: sometimes, being in society, we can imagine how elegant and neat we are. But what a disappointment it can be when, in a mirror reflection, we see that we have indecent spots on our face, and our clothes make us a laughing stock for others?
Conclusion: we may not see [and sometimes do not want to see] ourselves from the outside as we really are. It is worth remembering what was said to someone, a well-known expression from the Bible: “You say: “I am rich, I have become rich and have need of nothing”; but do not know that you are wretched, and pitiful, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Rev. 3:17).
2. According to this: how often do we think about why we treated certain people well? What truly motivates our actions? Perhaps only because it gives us pleasure? You have good relationships in your family - but how would you treat your wife [husband] if she [he] did not treat you kindly enough?.. If we answer such questions to ourselves with crystal honesty, maybe we will understand that we are not as loving and kind as we thought before.
Conclusion: in fact, our positive feelings and actions can often be a reaction to favorable circumstances and a positive attitude towards ourselves (Matt. 5:46,47).
3. Even if one of us, having any abilities, has achieved something in life, this is still far from a reason to be proud. For example: someone may be born as the most capable type of a pygmy tribe in Africa, or in the jungles of Papua New Guinea; but, despite all his efforts, he never became Prime Minister of Great Britain [not fate] - why? For this, it is also important to be ‘’at the right time and in the right place’’. The wise Solomon wrote: “I turned and saw under the sun that successful running does not go to the quick, nor victory to the brave, nor bread to the wise, nor wealth to the wise, nor favor to the skilled, but time and chance for everyone.” them'' (Eccl. 9:11).
Conclusion: many favorable circumstances in our lives may not depend on us - but on “time and chance.”
4. Life is sometimes not fair. You can be born a rootless dog, or a plain-looking cat; and living in a garbage dump, not experiencing what the love of the owners is. But if the appearance and features of such an internal organ as the brain are good, then there is a good chance that you can become someone’s funny pet.
So, we believe that it is not fair to blame someone who was born with any defects - and that’s right! And in the same way, it would be wrong to praise ourselves for our innate virtues, as if we earned them somewhere.
Conclusion: such innate advantages as mental abilities and appearance are clearly not our merit; you did not choose it.
5. Now, imagine a city with a population of two million people - is there really not at least fifty truly believing Christians in it?.. You will say, why am I saying this? I don’t know, dear friends, about you, but at first I was surprised by the fact that out of almost two million adult Jews who left Egypt, only two entered the Promised Land; and even then, precisely from the blessed tribes of Ephraim and Judah. No, just imagine... out of almost two million - only two... So why on Pentecost 33 AD, in the days of the apostles, were there thousands of Christians turning to God? ... This showed that until the Almighty gives each of us spiritual sight and hearing so that we can turn to Him, we will never be able to do this ourselves. Read: Rom.3:9-12. Deut.29:2-4. Ezek.36:25-27. (Luke 18:18-27; 19:2-10.)
Conclusion: if you are a real Christian, this is true, not your achievement. Christ asserted: “For this reason I told you, that no one can come to Me unless it is given to him from My Father” (see John 6:44,45,65). And this is a reason to thank the Almighty, fearing to lose the purity of heart due to our shortcomings (Rom. 3:10-12.). It is not surprising that the greatest Teacher Christ said: “So you also, when you have done all that was commanded you, say: We are worthless servants, because we have done what we had to do” (Luke 17:10). Some may ask: “why such self-deprecation?”.. Friends, let’s pay attention to two stories that may seem ordinary - but together, these two events reveal an amazing truth to us.
So: “One of the leaders asked Him: Good Teacher! What must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus said to him: Why do you call Me good? no one is good except God alone; You know the commandments: do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother. He said: I have kept all this from my youth. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing: sell everything that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow Me.” When he heard this, he was saddened, because he was very rich. Jesus, seeing that he was saddened, said: How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God! for it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Those who heard this said: who can be saved? But He said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God” (Luke 18:18-27).
A rich young leader (probably the leader of the synagogue) turned to the Son of God: “Good Teacher!” - Christ said: “Why do you call Me good? no one is good except God alone.”. What does it mean? – To the students’ question: “Who can be saved? Jesus, looking at them, said: “This is impossible with men, but not with God, for all things are possible with God.”(Mark 10:26,27). Immediately after this event, they come to the city of Jericho (Luke 18:31,35; 19:1.). “And behold, someone named Zacchaeus, chief of tax collectors and a rich man... stood up and said to the Lord: Lord! I will give half of my property to the poor, and if I have offended anyone in any way, I will repay him fourfold.”(Luke 19:2,8.). So, when the Lord said that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God,” was He wrong? - No, not at all. But the words: “no one is good except God alone” indicate that spiritual healing is absolutely not our merit. The prophet Ezekiel wrote about it this way: “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; And I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My spirit within you and cause you to walk in My commandments and keep My statutes and do them.”(Ezek.36:26,27). This is the gift of that spiritual “seeing and hearing” that is spoken of in the Bible: Deut.29:2-4. John 6:44,45,65.
Yes, our task is to work spiritually and increase the spiritual “talents” of our Master - and if we do not do this with all our hearts, then we commit sin. But God's word says that “The ear that hears and the eye that sees - the Lord created both”(Prov.20:12); and therefore, the expression of the Apostle Paul is also relevant here: “We brought nothing into the world...”(1 Tim. 6:7).
So, humility: in order to learn this quality, the first thing that is important is honesty, with the help of which we can correctly evaluate our “merits” before the Almighty (Matt. 5:8.). And so we smoothly moved on to the question: why should we strive for humility?
Let's start with this instructive example: “Two men entered the temple to pray: one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: God! I thank You that I am not like other people, robbers, offenders, adulterers, or like this publican: I fast twice a week, I give a tenth of everything I acquire. The publican, standing in the distance, did not even dare to raise his eyes to heaven; but, striking himself on the chest, he said: God! be merciful to me, a sinner!
I tell you that this one went to his house justified more than the other: for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”(Luke 18:10-14).
In fact, if according to the Law, then the Pharisee was less guilty. However, the Pharisee’s “blindness” was that he did not take into account the fact that he was born and lived in a completely different environment. You can remember the 3rd point of the 5 reasons not to be proud: it says that there is “time and chance,” circumstances that we cannot choose ourselves. Probably, the tax collector was that “sheep without a shepherd”, about which it is written in: Matt.9:36. Ezek.34:2-5,17-20,23,24. Matthew 9:11-13. - but the Pharisee probably could have been luckier. So, for example: being raised in a religious family, as well as spiritual education, makes it possible to commit fewer sinful acts. However, actions (such as this Pharisee) are only an external manifestation - there are her hidden “actions”... For example: someone does not commit adultery - perhaps because they cannot? What if you could?.. “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”(Matt. 5:28). One way or another, Scripture says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Therefore in Romans we read: “So, you are inexcusable, every person who judges [another], for by the same judgment with which you judge another, you condemn yourself, because in judging [another], you do the same. Or do you neglect the riches of God’s goodness, meekness and long-suffering, not realizing that God’s goodness leads you to repentance?”(Rom.2:1,4).
Yes, friends: true humility can be learned throughout your life; and what we have tried to present to you is an insignificant part of this multifaceted quality. However, now, if we at least understand what we really stand before the Almighty, it will help us humbly pray for the mercy of Heavenly Father. In turn, perhaps this will open the way for us to have a relationship with God, Who said: “Thus says the Lord: heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; where will you build a house for me, and where is my resting place? For all this was done by my hand, and all this was done, says the Lord. But this is the one I will look upon: the one who is humble and contrite in spirit and who trembles at My word” (Is. 66:1,2).
Today, Christianity lives in anticipation of the second coming of Christ; and such a quality as humility will help to find salvation and eternal meaning to be with the Almighty. By learning from the Lord Christ, “meek and lowly in heart,” we can become sons of Heavenly Father, “in the image and likeness of God” (Matt. 5:44-48.). “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and it hastens greatly: the voice of the day of the Lord is already heard; Then even the bravest will cry out bitterly! … Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth, who keep His laws; seek truth, seek humility; perhaps you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s wrath.”(Zeph.1:14; 2:3.).
And one more thing: understanding the basics of this quality is still only a theory. Through suffering, a person has the opportunity to gain a practical understanding of what humility means (Lamentations Jer. 3:27-40.). For example, Scripture says: “He (Christ), in the days of His flesh, with a strong cry and with tears offered prayers and supplications to Him who was able to save Him from death; and was heard for [His] reverence; Although He is a Son, He learned obedience through suffering.”(Heb.5:7,8). Therefore, our website “Secrets of the Bible” also invites you to read the article entitled: “Why God Allows Suffering.” In this article, you can find out what the Apostle Peter meant when he wrote: “For it is time for judgment to begin at the house of God...”(1 Peter 4:17).
Blessings to you, all who love Heavenly Father and the Lord Christ. Amen.
S. Iakovlev. (S. Bokhan)