Proclamation:
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s might hand, that
He may lift you up in due time. Cast all
your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:6-7 (NIV)
Explanation:
These words were written by the apostle Peter, under the
influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers who scattered after the
crucifixion of Christ. (1 Peter 1:1-2)
Peter began this fifth and final chapter of his first letter by telling
the elders of the church to be good shepherds of God’s flock. (1 Peter
5:1-4) Then he tells the people to
submit to the elders and to be humble because God shows favor to the humble. (1
Peter 5:5-6) He reminds them that they
have been called by God. He said that they
may suffer for a little while but that God Himself would restore them and
strengthen them. (1 Peter 5:10) To God
be the glory. (1 Peter 5:11)
Application:
Some of us have too high of an opinion of ourselves. It is hard for a proud person to humble themselves
and grow in grace. When we think too
highly of ourselves, we tend to lose our focus on The Lord God who is above all
of us. (Romans 12:3) We need to learn to
humble ourselves before God has to humble us, as He did to the apostle Paul
with that “thorn” in his flesh. (2 Corinthians 12:7) Self pride or vanity is not a good thing.
(Job 35:13, Psalm 4:2, Psalm 94:11, Ecclesiastes 6:4, Ezekiel 13:8, and
Ephesians 4:17) God does not look kindly
on the proud. (James 4:6 and 2 Peter 5:5)
Be humble. Whoever shall humble
himself, God will exalt. (Matthew 23:12 and Luke 14:11)
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