Clothe With Humility

"Likewise, you younger, submit yourselves to the elder. Yes, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble." (1 Peter 5:5)

The advice to this group is to listen to the wisdom of the elders and live in accordance with their instruction; that is, they are ‘to submit.’ The term submission should be understood as ‘living according to some constituted order’ – here, the order established by the directives of the elders. And since they have already been instructed to lead, not by domination but by example, we can assume that submission here was not some onerous task. Rather, it was joyfully acceptable to those who wanted to live in accordance with God’s will. […] Whether leader or laity, whether old or young, Christians are to develop a deferential and humble attitude toward one another. Peter hinted at this in 3:8-12 and 4:7-11; he now makes it more explicit. The elder is not to arrogate himself to the position of dominant partner, nor are the younger members to rebel against the authority of the elders; rather, they are to respect one another mutually. The elder’s service is by way of leadership while the younger members’ service is by way of conformity to the norm of the elders.

A mind characterised by humility is a mind that has no arrogance, no self-consciousness, and exhibits a greater concern for others than for oneself.  This is the way Christ's mind functioned.

Have you ever realised that the more you know about any subject, the more you realise that you do not know much about what you know.



Rev Dr. Ronnie Ng