Written ~ 09-26-2023
1 Peter 5:5-7
“In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” So, humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time He will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares for you.”
Some of the synonyms of the words humble and humility are:
Down-to-earth, unassuming, modest, unpretentious, genuine, sincere, reserved.
I love Paul’s way of helping us visualize “putting on” humility. Sometimes being humble won’t come easily. Especially if you want to prove a point. But dressing yourself in humility shows you are coming fully clothed to a situation with a genuine and reserved attitude. In today’s world the youth and young adult seem to have no idea what humility means. The lack of respect for their elders is astonishing. And it will only worsen if there isn’t a turning to the Lord. It’s quite sad really, looking at the world today, these verses seem to be read in an opposite manner. The younger person does not accept authority, instead of being dressed in humility, they are dressed in arrogance and egotism. It doesn’t seem to be enough that God opposes the proud, young people are plowing headstrong into their own ideas and pretentious attitudes.
So, what do you aim for? To live according to the Word of God? Or the standards the world has set.
Some of the synonyms for the word proud are:
Arrogant, selfish, disdainful, conceited, egotistical, bossy, self-centered, dominating.
Look at how verse 5:5b sounds with using the synonyms we’ve looked at for both words, proud and humble:
“God opposes the proud, arrogant, selfish, conceited and self-centered person, but gives grace to the humble, down-to-earth, unassuming, modest and sincere person.”
We can either be in opposition with God or He will assist us with His grace. So, what happens when we come to the Lord, the Almighty God with humble attitudes? This is what it says in verse 5:6,
“So, humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time He will lift you up in honor.”
When we go to the Lord with a humble heart, when we serve Him with genuine, sincere hearts, He sees, He knows and at the right time the Lord God will lift you up, promote you and exalt you!
What if you are the person who is struggling with pride, you want your will to be done, and you go after it with your own intention, instead of waiting for the Lord. You are headstrong, you have the Type-A personality that makes you push and push until you get your way. It’s fine to have boldness and drive, but is it coming through with humility? That’s why verse 5:7 is so important,
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares for you.”
Give that prideful boldness and drive to the Lord, have Him help you work through those attributes by removing the pride and adding humility.
What if you’re not able to fully give your worries and cares over to the Lord? Could that be a type of pride? If your heart and mind is so full of worry about everything going on in your life and you’re not willing to give it over to the Lord completely, in a sense you’re telling God that you are better at working through your worries than He is. Coming to the Lord with a humble heart means you can give Him everything and you are finally able to let the Lord take care of you and all those worries.
As we mature, we should have a much better grasp on the effects of pride and humility, we have more experience to see what pride and self-centeredness gets a person, usually trouble. So, in our wisdom, the humbleness of our hearts should become easier to display. Which attribute is ruling your heart? Pride or humility? Do you want your way no matter what? Or do you solely rely on the way God has planned for you?
Father, my heartfelt prayer is that I would always come to You with a humble heart. To be able to interact with others with a sincere and genuine attitude. Father, I don’t ever want to oppose You. My heart, mind and soul are Yours! I kneel before You Lord and give You my worries, all my cares and ask You to take care of them for me. Thank you Lord for Your love and care for me.
~AMEN~