Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5).
This commandment flew in the face of the Greek culture because, like ours, it glorified self-assertion and aggressiveness. They worshipped bodily perfection and “wisdom,” as they called it, flaunting it before others as a basis on which a relationship would be conducted. Feeling better than, or being seen as better than others was of utmost importance to people in the ancient Greek world.
Greek culture, like ours, glorified youthfulness and the apostle Peter felt a holy unction to warn the Church against the dangerous sin of exalting youth and beauty above the wisdom of the elders. Godly young men and young women run from arrogance and seek out the wisdom that only age and grace can produce.
God commands us to be clothed with humility. Humility is pride’s opposite, its antonym. We learn a great deal about humility when we just do the opposite of what the Bible teaches us about pride. Part of the key to understanding humility is in this short phrase “just do”. Just do it, as the Nike® advertisement urges. Why would God want us to do such a thing? Because true humility is a choice. It is not something that comes naturally. We have to choose to do it.
Peter says that we must “be clothed with humility.” Meaning, we must put on humility in the same way that we choose to wear a winter jacket. Doing either of these activities is a choice. In this phrase, the apostle is reminiscing about Jesus at His last Passover, when He clothed Himself with an apron and knelt down before His disciples, including Peter, washing their feet as an example of His mind, His attitude, toward them (John 13:1-17). He girded himself and performed this lowly act. He had to put on, choose to practice, humility to do that. Every day we must reach past the garment of pride and clothe ourselves in humility.
If God manifest in the flesh could make himself of no reputation (Philippians 2:7); what choice do we have but to follow His example?
[…] 3. Are you a “Lurker” or a “Liker”? We all know the social media user who lurks around but never likes or engages with anything. Studies are suggesting that this imbalance gives a window into the soul. If you lurk and never like but you feel angry when no one likes your posts; you are likely a selfish narcissist. However, if you lurk and never like but don’t care if others like your posts; you are probably just cautious, private, and curious. There’s a big difference between the two. There has been much debate about the narcissistic side effects of social media. Needless to say, the Kardashian worshipping, selfie-obsessed, fame seeking mindset has no place in a godly heart (check out my very first blog post entitled Living Selflessly In a Selfie World and Clothed In Humility). […]
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