Faith and Unforced Humility

Alma had two messages for his Zoramite listeners:

1. It’s good to be humble, especially when you choose to humble yourself instead of being compelled by your circumstances to be humble. (See Alma 32:12-16, 24-25.)
2. Faith is a choice made in the context of uncertainty. When you know something, you no longer need to exercise faith. (See Alma 32:17-21, 26.)

The transitions between these two principles seem rather abrupt. One moment, he’s talking about humility, and the next, he’s talking about faith. But Alma seems to see these two topics as somehow synonymous:

Blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble; or rather, in other words, blessed is he that believeth in the word of God, and is baptized without stubbornness of heart, yea, without being brought to know the word, or even compelled to know, before they will believe.

Alma 32:16

Insisting on overwhelming evidence before choosing to believe is like waiting to humble yourself until circumstances demand it. You don’t get a lot of credit for making the right choice when the other alternatives are no longer viable, and there’s not a lot of spiritual growth in living by compulsion.

Alma lamented that many people say, “If thou wilt show unto us a sign from heaven, then we shall know of a surety; then we shall believe” (Alma 32:17). One of those people—Korihor—had made almost that exact statement to Alma shortly before. “Except ye show me a sign,” he insisted, “I will not believe” (Alma 30:48). He did believe after receiving a sign, but who wouldn’t? There’s not a lot of virtue in choosing to believe something when its veracity is unquestionable.

Alma gave his listeners a little more credit for their humility. Their circumstances, he said, had humbled them, but he offered the following assurance: “I verily believe that there are some among you who would humble themselves, let them be in whatsoever circumstances they might” (Alma 32:25). But he encouraged them to take the next step by choice, not by necessity: “Awake and arouse your faculties,” he said, “and exercise a particle of faith…in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.” (Alma 32:27).

Spiritual growth depends on personal initiative. We grow by exercising our agency, and we can only exercise our agency when we have options. (See 2 Nephi 2:16.)

Today, I will choose to believe, and I will choose to be humble. I will recognize that an acknowledgement of truth, like humility, can be forced upon me, and I will take the initiative to do both while I have a choice, when my circumstances do not require it.