Humility reduces our need for self-justification and allows us to admit to and learn from our mistakes or negative ego behaviors. Humility is the key to help us overcome many of these thought distortions which evolve into a host of ego defense mechanisms. True Humility because it is a Spiritual Virtue of the Christ, protects us from unconsciously giving our consent and power to the predator realm of negative ego thoughts. Once we give our consent and power away to the ego we become a vessel of those lower based forces which blocks our higher perception and spiritual communication.
Because humility addresses our intrinsic self-worth, our self-worth in how that presents itself in our relationships and socialization in groups, as well as based upon our own personal perspective of self-worth, “humility” is emphasized here in ES as a part of our spiritual practice, as a moral teaching and an ethical study in the practice of the Law of One. In the practice of the Law of One our daily commitment is to be of service to our spiritual service and highest purpose of expression. By choosing this and being humble we are allowing the Laws of Divine Order to govern our actions, thoughts and behaviors rather than succumbing to the lower nature of human or man made ego based laws.
Humility is seen as the act or posture of lowering oneself in relation to others, which is not entirely accurate. It is about seeing others as mirrors to yourself and loving those aspects as you love yourself. Humility is about having a clear perspective, and therefore respect, for one's place in the context of life and circumstances. To be in Service to Others, one must be in humility to the scope of the Universe of which we are a part. In our context to the Law of One practices, this can mean a recognition of self in relation the total love and acceptance of one's person, knowing the authentic self and recognizing flaws and personality defects, however, submitting to a higher power than ourselves – as our inherent value is in our eternal self and our spiritual person, and as a member of our greater community. In the process of personal development and in the strengthening of one’s moral character, Humility takes on a moral and ethical dimension which cultivates virtues in every area of our lives.
Humility, in various interpretations, is a virtue in many philosophical traditions, of which its polarized opposite is to narcissism, hubris, arrogance and other forms of pride.
"True humility" is distinctly different from "false humility" which consists of deprecating one's own sanctity, gifts, talents, and accomplishments for the sake of receiving praise, attention or adulation from others. In this context genuine humility comprises the following behaviors and attitudes:
- Submitting to God Source as the highest authority to which one gives consent in your actions, words and deeds.
- Recognizing virtues and talents that others possess as it is and not envious of those talents, particularly if recognizing those people that may have skill sets that may currently surpass one's own skill level. Giving due respect or honor of that purpose and when required, discerning when it is important to listen or when to take direction, depending on assessing the current circumstances. Every person has value and spiritual purpose, whether that purpose is actualized in the personality or not, and that potential is up to the person to cultivate a spiritually Krystic infused personality or Christ mind.
- Recognizing the limits of one's talents, ability, or authority; and, not reaching for what is beyond practical reality in terms of fantasies, embellishments or magical thinking. This is the difference of being honest when assessing a skill or proficiency level. An example, would you refer to yourself as an Olympic Gold swimmer when you are casual swimmer at the community pool? An honest and humble person would state the accurate facts of conditions in the moment as an true representation.
- This is a part of knowing one self and being authentic and true to yourself, not needing competition with others, but recognizing those skills or proficiencies in people around you that may inspire you or help you to become a better or improved person. Finding value in a person’s proficiencies or recognizing those skills needed in a group setting that are required to support a larger group purpose or serving humanitarian objectives.
- Humility is a potential part of temperance because temperance includes all those virtues that restrain reactions from our uncontrolled desires. Humility is a required discipline of restraining the lower appetites of impulsivity by refocusing negative emotions. Lack of impulse control means that we are easily consumed and controlled by darkness. When we apply humility to the circumstances it helps to refocus our impulses into more productive spiritually healthy behaviors.
Humility is defined as, "A quality by which a person considering his own defects has a humble opinion of himself and willingly submits himself to God and to others for God's sake." St. Bernard defines it as, "A virtue by which a man knowing himself as he truly is, abases himself (to the greater good). Jesus Christ is the ultimate definition of Humility."
The vices opposed to humility are:
• Pride (by reason or defect).
• Too great obsequiousness or abjection of oneself; this would be considered an excess of humility, and could easily be derogatory to one's character; or it might serve only to pamper pride in others, by unworthy flattery, which would feed the weakness in others such as tyranny, arbitrariness, and arrogance. The virtue of humility is not to be practiced in any external way that would feed, support the consent to the predator forces or vices in others.
HUMILITY IS A VIRTUE which is one of the generated blessings or qualities of the Spirits of Christ.
Virtues are the qualities of goodness that define the very purpose of our lives, the content of our character and the truest expression of our spiritual-energetic nature. Virtues are qualities of goodness which inhabit in the world of forces, as a “spiritual force”. When one builds strength in virtue, one builds strength in the power of our goodness which translates into the power of God Force. We reap the quality of our cultivated virtue in that which brings incredible gifts directly from the God spirit. (These are the Spirits of Christ) These gifts are referred to as the “Bestowal of Grace” which is received through the sincerity of one’s virtuous thoughts or virtuous actions. It is made clear to define that the Bestowal of Grace is not dispensed through a premeditated intermediary, such as in a Guru or Priest, but is received as dispensation of grace from the personal cultivation of virtues. To strengthen our spiritual foundation at its root in our personal Tree of Life, we must place our relationship to God as primary and find the courage every day to cultivate virtues.
A virtue is a characteristic of a person which supports the development of individual goodness for the purpose of personal and collective humanitarian wellbeing. This is a person who chooses to promote principles of love and goodness while giving their best every day with whatever they have in the moment.
If one focuses on building strong virtues these behaviors lead to personal freedom. If one is allowing strong vices to control them, this leads to personal bondage. This is our choice, to have freedom or bondage through the choices we make every day to cultivate virtues.
When we are spiritually strong, we are a fortress of heart based devotion and dedication to serve the highest expression of our goodness as a spiritual being. This heart based devotion progressively builds solid ethics and strong virtues which are the collective attributes that directly attract the Spirits of Christos.
When we cultivate personal virtue we create the internal houses for the Spirits of Christ. As the Universal Law of Structure states; we can build our house (our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual bodies) in so that the spirit we design it for can reside. This is what it means to create a House for Christ and to purify ourselves for the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of Christ requires a House in which to dwell inside our mind and body. The goal for spiritual protection is to dismantle the houses of ego, evict the demonic and predator forces, and replace them with the virtues which are the Houses of Christ. State your authority and intention to be of service to God and to build a strong relationship with one’s Inner Spiritual Light and Christos. As you devote your attention and focus on the quality of the Spirits of Christ, the Houses for Christ grow stronger. Where we focus our energy and attention its energetic form materializes. Thus, greatly increasing one’s relationship to God and experiencing energetic balance which returns us into feelings of self-love, self-worth, peace and happiness.
(research by wikipedia, adapted from Shifting Timelines, Spiritual Maturity Newsletter)