“…all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”-{1 Peter 5:5-7}.
One of the first things you do after you wake up before you leave the house is put on clothes, you clothe yourself. And depending on the occasion you address accordingly! And Peter tells us what we are to “clothe” ourselves daily from the moment we wake up. He is not speaking about external clothing but an inward attitude and it is Humility! And so Peter here tells us to “clothe yourselves…”
The phrase, ‘clothe yourselves with humility towards one another,’ is a Greek term that was used to tie something on yourself with a knot or a bow. It came to speak of a work apron. A slave would put one on to keep his or her clothes clean. The word became the equivalent for humble service.
It was also used of a white scarf or an apron of slaves which was fastened to the belt of the vest of slaves and distinguished them from people who were freemen. They were distinguishable, identified, known, different, recognizable and so too the followers of Christ, should be increasingly be distinguishable from those without Christ. Identifiable by humility.
It is a verb, a pattern of life, AN ATTITUDE we are to continually adopt. A new habit for those who are “New Creations in Christ.” We have new power, new perspective, new attitudes, new behavior! Jesus modeled this in John 13… as He lovingly stooped to serve others, and we are to do likewise. It speaks of living to do the will of another. Practically it means you and I live no longer to do our will but His will, His plans, His way, for His sake! We put on the attitude of the servant of Christ, expressed in serving them, one choice at a time, one person at a time, for the LORD’S sake, because He tells us this is what He desires, requires, and He will empower us …”For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.”-{Phil 2:13}. God was using the circumstances in their lives through suffering to develop humility, to see their continual need of Him and draw them to Him in devotion and dependence as He developed them through allowing the circumstances to humble them, develop and display in the mindset and action of humility.
Regarding the phrase “Clothe yourself” it came to be identified as Humble Service…
From 1 Peter 5:5-7, we can say,
Humble people Serve others. -“…clothe yourselves with humility toward one another.”
Humble People Submit to God. -“…humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, ”
Humble people have Hope in God -“…that He may exalt you… ”
Humble people Trust God’s Timing. – “…that He may exalt you at the proper time, ”
Humble People Give All of their Anxieties to God. -“…casting all your anxiety on Him,”
Humble People Believe God Cares for them. – “…because He cares for you.”
Proud people Don’t!
At times we exhibit pride as His people…and upon realizing it, we need to humble ourselves to Him, confess our sin and begin afresh.
“God is opposed to the proud,”-Pride was the sin of satan in Isaiah 14:12-15. Pride sees itself as in the top seat and if not, then desiring, striving to get there and sees prides plans, opinions, desires as uppermost and grates against the Sovereignty of God and His plans and chaffs at anything that opposes it’s will. Pride is destructive, demonic in it’s origin, God hates it{Read Prov 6:16}. God is “opposed” to it-{1 Peter 5:5}
Pride is a breathing ground for anxiety.
And God is opposed to the proud. The word “opposed” means- to set an army against, lining up in battle order. The idea is to resist, oppose, to be hostile towards! God is taking His stand in direct opposition to proud people!
There are 2 Motivations in the passage to Humble ourselves
- God is in Complete control – “…Under the Mighty Hand of God.” Which speaks of His Power and Presence.
- God Cares for You! -“… He cares for you.” The way it is written grammatically is beautiful. It says He presently cares for you. He personally cares for you, and this is continuous, unbreakable! In the midst of the people whom Peter was writing to who were suffering, slandered and with that came anxiety. He writes to tell them how to handle it and the first thing is to “Humble yourselves under the Mighty Hand of God and He will exalt you at the proper time! ” The way it is written grammatically is :allow yourselves to be humbled by God.” It is to submit and trust Him!
When we doubt His care, we doubt that He is in Complete Control, we struggle with humility and pride, fear, anxiety is often our response. We don’t trust Him. And God is opposed to pride! We have a relationship problem, we have a thinking problem, we have a trusting problem… we have a Pride problem! So what do we do? What does the passage say? We “humble ourselves…” confess our sin, tell Him we are struggling and ask Him to help us… and He will…
For, “God gives Grace to the humble.” And you have just expressed humility by turning to Him. Good Job!
And as we see from above some of the marks of Humility and how it is manifested…identified… as listed above. You wouldn’t leave your house without clothes on, so don’t begin your day without “clothing” yourself with the attitude of humility, expressed in living in submission before the LORD and serving others for His sake! Put your clothes on!
God blesses the Humble! 🙂