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11/19/2005: "Confident Humility"

I know I've written before about my desire not to confuse self-doubt with humility. I've been counseled this specifically from the Lord as well as through His Apostles (see Jeffrey R. Holland, “Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence,” Ensign, Mar. 2000, 7)

This week Linda & Richard Eyre captured it so concisely in their weekly Meridian Magazine article about the qualities and characteristics of the Savior:

"To understand, we need to stop thinking of humility and confidence as opposites. We need to consider the fact that both, in their most complete and perfect form, spring from the same source — and that source is a true understanding of one’s relationship to the Father.

To know God the Father, and to understand our relationship to Him, brings two inevitable results: the confidence of bring literal offspring of God, and the humility of comparing His perfected level with our “beginner’s level.” Perfect love of God (which is the same as knowing Him) brings confidence because it “casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18).

Perfect love of God also causes humility because it brings us to “all lowliness and meekness” (Ephesians 4”2). Christ, who not only knew and loved the Father but who was “with him” (John 8:16) and who was one with him (John 10:30, 17:21), thus reached maximum levels both in confidence and in humility."

Wow. This is exactly the message I needed to help me understand this concept. My thanks to the Eyres for their wonderfully inspired writing and my praise to the Lord for guiding me to understand His word better. I hope to be able to report back soon on some of the results of successful application in my life.