Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that He may lift you up at the appropriate time. 1 Peter 5:6, TLV

While this verse is directed to the “elders” (vs. 1), we can all take a lesson in Peter’s letter to the diaspora (Jewish people living outside Israel) and the growing number of Gentile brothers and sisters. Humbling ourselves within this context is placing ourselves under God’s authority, yes, but also under the authority of those who are more mature — have walked the faith journey longer.

Likewise, you younger ones, submit yourselves to the elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (vs. 5, TLV)

The goal in all this is to walk in humility willingly, because if we don’t, we remove ourselves from our Heavenly Father’s authority — and His Son’s — and have set ourselves up for trouble. If we don’t do it on our own, our Father will either oppose us — yikes! — or He will humble us. Also, not fun.

I like the way Peter says to clothe ourselves. It reminds me that I need to make the choice to “put on humility.” Before I don my spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:11-17), I should be clothed in humility. Otherwise, the armor will chafe and bruise, because all that gear on our skin? Ouch.

So each day, I put on humility, then everything to protect myself.

Just a thought.