Be Humble...

Dear Boys,

Humility...what is it? Why is it necessary? How can it change us?

Humility is an amazing thing. It is very necessary, in this life, to learn and practice humility. The dictionary defines humility as "the quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one's own importance". To me, humility is difficult to define. In the dictionary, humble is defined as "a feeling of insignificance". To me, there is much more to humility and being humble than the definitions imply. But, it is difficult to put into words. Humility begins and ends with you. You boys will do many GREAT things in your lives. You deserve credit for the great things you do. People will be proud of you and you will be proud of yourselves. And, you should be.

However, the second you let those achievements go to your head, you lose humility. Remember, you did not accomplish any of those things alone. You had help from somewhere. Always...always...thank your Heavenly Father for what you accomplish. Without Him and His Son, we would not be here. All things we accomplish are through Him. He gives us strength. He gave us life.
Remember those other people around you who helped you accomplish those things. Friends, family, teachers, teammates, etc. may have helped you be successful. Remember them.
Being humble and being grateful go hand in hand. You cannot accomplish one without the other. You need them both or you are failing at both. And, the second that you think you have completed being humble or grateful, you have failed.

The second you think you have humility under control, you have lost it. It is a life long work that will never be completed.
Think you don't need humility?
THINK AGAIN!!!
Even the greatest of all, our Savior, the Only Begotten Son, the creator of our world, the Son of God, JESUS CHRIST humbled himself. As a matter of fact, the greatest of us all showed more humility in his short life than the rest of humanity combined will ever show.
From the beginning, in Heaven, Jesus humbled himself before our Father in Heaven. When he presented his plan to the Father, he humbled himself by giving all the glory to the Father. In his purpose, he humbled himself by offering to come to Earth as a sacrificial lamb, offering to pay for all our sins (John 1:29). And, that was just the beginning of his displays of humility.
The Son of God, the Almighty, the Savior of the world would come to us in a lowly manger. No trumpets. No songs of praise. No fanfare. Only a few who believed came to visit. Shepherds in the fields and three wise men made the trip to be with the King of Kings. And, throughout his life, he would continue to be humble. He lived a humble life. He was not a wealthy man, although he could have been had he wanted. He lived with virtually no possessions and often depended on others for food, drink, and clothing.
The greatest of us all lived day by day, serving others, when people were the ones that should have been serving him. He never complained. He simply showed love. No greater example of humility has the world ever known. On the night before he was to suffer for all our sins in the garden, at his Last Supper, the Savior displayed humility again. He knew what was to come. He knew he was going to suffer extreme pain in the garden. He knew that his tormentors would come for him there. He knew the one of his own would betray him. He knew that the ones that he loved would crucify him although he had done no wrong. He knew they would mock him, spit on him, beat him, curse him, laugh at him, humilate him, and eventually take his life on the cross. Still, with all that in mind, he took the time to humble himself and serve the brethren that he loved so dearly.
Just prior to indescribable pain, suffering, torture, and death were about to occur, Jesus showed love. He lowered himself to the floor, and one by one, he washed the feet of his disciples. The thought of that act brings tears to my eyes right now. He was going to suffer and die for each of them (and us) in the coming day, yet he did not think of himself. He only thought of them and the love and lessons he could share(John 13:1-17).

His never ending humility graces us still as he forgives us for the countless mistakes we make. He never leaves us. He never stops believing in us. He never stops loving us.
Be Humble.
You will not regret it.
I love you. I am humbled by the thought that my Savior would die for me. I am humbled by the forgiveness he eagerly gives me. I am humbled by his gift of life, love, and death for me. And, I am humbled that His Father would send me two amazing spirits to call my sons. How humbled I am. As tears fill my eyes, my humility grows. And, I cannot imagine how humbling it will be to see you two come into this world and hold each of you in my arms.
I love you.
Love,
Dad