Humility

I've been doing a word-study on "humility" - which includes the word humble.  Here is what the Lord showed me this morning...

1 Peter 5:5-7 - "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.

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you."

First of all, what does it mean to be "clothed with humility"?  

Clothing:

• Covers us
• It's visible to others
• It shields us 
• It conveys a message

So, if I am clothed in humility, that humility ought to:

• Cover me - it ought to be the one outstanding quality that overshadows all others
• Be visible to others - it's probably not humility if no one else can see it and you have to proclaim it!!
• Shield me - by it's nature, humility will shield me against pride and arrogance
• Send a message - the message that it's not about me, it's about the Lord.

And then there are verses 6 & 7.  So often we like to tear the two apart and quote them individually.  But in reality, verses 6 & 7 are one thought - notice that the end of verse 6 is NOT the end of the sentence.

Because God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (verse 5), we should humble ourselves under God's authority, so that HE can exalt us; and as we humble ourselves, we will also cast all our cares (all = any kind of care!) upon Him:  "Here, Lord - I'm tired of carrying this burden; you do it!" - because he cares for us.  He wants to take that burden from me.

I don't believe you can be truly humble and still try to care your burdens, your cares, yourself.  It's a dichotomy - you can't be humble and still say, "I can do this by myself!  I can handle it.  I can solve it.  I can deal with it."  It's a package deal.  In order to be truly humble, you also have to admit that God and God alone can handle what troubles you.  It's part of being humble.

~Tammy~