Scripture:
[5] ..Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
[6] Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, [7] casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Observation:
After first addressing elders, and then the younger, Peter addresses everyone as “all of you”.
Clothe yourselves with Humility – surround yourselves with humility, let there be no way to see you without seeing you as humble.. That’s how important humility is.
It is equally expected for elders to serve and shepherd the younger with humility as it is form the younger to humbly serve the elders.
Furthermore elders and young alike are to be humble before the Lord. This is, to rely on Him as Lord of all. To recognize His power, to exalt Him and to know that He is always in control. With that, there is no reason for anxiety because He cares about you.
Application:
Rather than point out that pride is a sin equal to other sins like adultery, I believe this is an instance of humility being pointed out as part of God’s will for us as an action we must take, and not a passive behavior.
Humbly presenting ourselves and our needs before God shows in a way that we believe in Him, not just know of Him. Humility before him and before others shows that we know where our strength comes from – it comes from God alone.
As we humbly present ourselves before God, we should be handing our anxiety to Him as well. Holding on to anxiety from worrying too much about things means that either..
1) We don’t trust God. We don’t trust that He is good, that He cares about us, that He has good plans for us, that He keeps His promises, that He is in control..
OR
2) We know better than God what is best for us, thereby elevating ourselves to god status.
Prayer:
Lord thank You for teaching me and growing me through my strengths and through my weaknesses. I know that all I am comes from You and that if I had nothing on this earth, I would still have You. Lord take my anxiety and let me be anxious about nothing. Lord help me to clothe myself in humility at all times and in all situations. In Jesus’ mighty name I pray. Amen.