Humble Yourselves

"Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." (1 Peter 5:5-7 ESV).

 As the Apostle to the Jews, Peter closes his letter to “those who reside as aliens in the area of Galatia, and he uses Chapter 5 to remind them of two critical attributes of all believers: the importance of service and humility. Peter starts by alerting the churches' spiritual leaders or “elders” not to use their positions of authority to “lord” over those who have been put under their charge. But with the love of Christ to “shepherd the flock of God.” All too many times, church leadership forgets that it is their job to “shepherd” God’s sheep, to watch out for them, to protect them from danger and to teach them God’s truth, and not try to “control” them and bend them to the leadership’s will.

Shepherding and feeding God’s sheep is not always an easy or rewarding task. Remember the account of John 21:15-17, when Jesus, after His resurrection but prior to His ascension, asked Peter three times if Peter “loved” Him, and after each question, He told Peter to “Tend my lambs,” “Shepherd, my sheep” and finally “Feed my sheep.” I think Peter learned this lesson well and stayed with him for his entire life. And now he is passing on to those “elders” who were in charge of God’s flock to “Tend to, Shepherd, and Feed” God’s sheep.

Peter continues in this chapter to exhort the young men to be subject to the “elders.” He then states, “All of you, with humility toward one another."  Humility doesn’t come easy to many of us. Being humble, like Jesus was humble, is something that we must learn over time. The word translated as “humility” literally means “lowly mindedness.”

According to John MacArthur, it is “an attitude that one is not too good to serve.” Many commentators state that we can only have “humility” if we compare ourselves to Jesus and not other believers. That is why Peter then states in verse 6, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.”  You see, it’s when we understand that our opinions, positions, and desires are nothing compared to the “mighty hand of God” that we can put “me” in check. This world does not exist, so I can get what I want. God has not saved us for “good works” to benefit ourselves but for good works so that others may see God’s blessings.

It really is not about “me,” is it? It never was; that is what we have repented of (changed our minds about), was it not? Our way of thinking about our importance was wrong, and thinking about Jesus and what he did was right. Honestly, not much has changed. We were wrong to think about “me” to start with, and we are wrong to think it’s all about “me” now. In reality, it has always been about what Jesus has done and what Jesus is and will be doing. Once we get that straight in our minds, we can start clothing ourselves with humility, humble ourselves under the mighty hand of our loving God, and let God lift us up (exalt us) in His time. He always does! But it is in God’s time and in God’s way. It is so He can receive all the honor and glory for all He has done through His manifold grace.

Let’s remember to hold fast to our faith in times of trouble. We have been called to show others the truth of our Savior, and we need to be humble and be of service to others. That is what will get us through those lone dark days of persecution.

"Living in Grace is not about what I can do, but about what Jesus has already done!"