How do you grow in meekness and/or humility?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m through menopause. It’s very easy to develop humility. You have lived a long time, you have been married a long time, you have raised kids…there are regrets. Things that have humbled you.

Meekness? F, no. I’m also as angry as I have ever been and fed up with how society has treated women. I’m tired of being meek, pleasing, and submissive. Not a virtue and any religion that tells you so is lying.

Your understanding of meekness is not correct, though. You’re looking at it through the lens of man; sexism, rather than in the true, biblical context.

The Greek word translated “meek” is praeis and refers to mildness, gentleness of spirit, or humility. I see that as humility in action. Meekness is the power to act/retaliate, but deferring to God’s power over your life, and responding with gentle strength. It does not mean letting people walk all over you.

+1.

How does this work in reality? Does an aggressor see a different response between 1. I won’t do anything about this; gonna defer to God’s power, and 2. I’m won’t do anything about this; gonna let you walk all over me.

No -- The aggressor sees no difference, irrespective of whether or not the aggressor believes in God.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I’m corrected at work etc., I catch myself from trying to justify myself, argue, or be generally inflamed and just thank them and accept the criticism.

If I go out and something ends up off about my makeup, outfit, or really anything I try to be perfect/prideful about, I thank God for keeping me humble and let it go.

In a group, try speak about myself less and avoid turning the conversation to me (still working on this one )

I hate going to confession and confessing the same things over and over again, but rather than find a confession time at a different church with a different priest to avoid this, I stick with the same confessor I’m embarassed to go to.

I try to accept my falls with humility when I’m feeling particularly good about my spiritual life and then boom everything falls apart. I’m not as good at this as I think I am! Something I’ve read in a couple places is “I provide the good will, and God provides the strength.” All I can do is at keep my will aimed towards God and accept that I’m weak, human, flawed, and thank Him for being the one who perfects the work, not me.

These are just a few things!

You sound very proud of your meekness and very proud of your attempts to be meek. I don't think that qualifies as true meekness.

Well you got me there. I don’t ever get to talk about this in person because no one cares or asks—but yes, I am proud to be a Christian, and very happy to be co-operating with God in the daily work to grow in virtue and holiness. I’ll have to answer for that on judgment day!

Don't worry about it, there is no Judgement Day. When you die, you're just dead.

[Anonymous]

I was sick and almost died so that really humbled me

[Anonymous]

A true understanding of the Gospel.

If you more of a sinner than you’d ever believe but more and yet more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than you’d ever dared hoped —

Then you cannot feel morally superior to anyone. So when someone else is not being the best version of themselves — you can say, there have been plenty of times I have not been the best version of myself either. All fall short of the glory of God. I absolutely use this in all areas of my life and have found myself more forgiving, humbler, less prone to anger, more compassionate.

And when you believe the second half of the equation — it gives you great confidence. You already have the love of Jesus — what more do you need?

The Gospel has the power to give you great humility and great confidence at the very same time — nothing else can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I’m corrected at work etc., I catch myself from trying to justify myself, argue, or be generally inflamed and just thank them and accept the criticism.

If I go out and something ends up off about my makeup, outfit, or really anything I try to be perfect/prideful about, I thank God for keeping me humble and let it go.

In a group, try speak about myself less and avoid turning the conversation to me (still working on this one )

I hate going to confession and confessing the same things over and over again, but rather than find a confession time at a different church with a different priest to avoid this, I stick with the same confessor I’m embarassed to go to.

I try to accept my falls with humility when I’m feeling particularly good about my spiritual life and then boom everything falls apart. I’m not as good at this as I think I am! Something I’ve read in a couple places is “I provide the good will, and God provides the strength.” All I can do is at keep my will aimed towards God and accept that I’m weak, human, flawed, and thank Him for being the one who perfects the work, not me.

These are just a few things!

You sound very proud of your meekness and very proud of your attempts to be meek. I don't think that qualifies as true meekness.

Well you got me there. I don’t ever get to talk about this in person because no one cares or asks—but yes, I am proud to be a Christian, and very happy to be co-operating with God in the daily work to grow in virtue and holiness. I’ll have to answer for that on judgment day!

Please consider that you're just a good person - God or no God - and that there is no judgement day.

She never even said that she was a “good” person. Being a Christian is not being “good” — it’s not based on “trying really hard” or achievement or success. It is about being honest with yourself about your many flaws and recognizing that you are loved in the most profound way anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The irony is that meekness, indeed a virtue, is the one virtue above all that allows us to remain ourselves in the midst of adversity. It allows us to maintain self-possession when adversity strikes, rather than be possessed by the adversity itself.
Meekness is more synonymous with empowerment than it is with weakness because, as St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, meekness makes a man self-possessed. Dionysius has told us that Moses, surely no milquetoast, was deemed worthy of the divine apparition on account of his great meekness. According to St. Hilary, Christ dwells in us by our meekness of soul. When we are overcome by anger, we lose that sense of ourselves that allows God to dwell within us. Anger excludes God; meekness invites His presence.


^^^ I found this online re meekness as a virtue and understand it intellectually. But I’m so curious HOW those monks and others can remember and practice in the heat of the moment and not want to lash back

It doesn’t mean you let people walk all over you.
It means mostly you use soft power, you put out fire with water and redirect attackers energy like Aikido rather than meeting force with force or fire with fire.