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
The Latest Fashion: Humility. 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.
Leaders who have demonstrated true spiritual fruit — not just big cars and houses and planes — and also walk humbly before our Father.
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 as authority. A set up for trouble. If we don’t willingly choose humility, our Father will 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.”
This morning, I was thinking, “What if I put on humility before I put on my spiritual armor?” (Ephesians 6:11-17)
Thousands of years ago, soldiers wore a cloth undergarment called the gambeson. Depending upon how the gambeson was made, it could be used as armor itself, or to cushion the body to prevent chafing. This kind of fits, doesn’t it?
So, each day, I need to remember to put on humility, then put on everything else, to protect myself. Just a thought.
