6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 having cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares about you.

1 Peter 5:6-7 (NASB) 中文 

Talking about humility

After calling his readers to be subject to elders and show humility toward one another, Peter now tells us to humble ourselves. For God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (v5). So how do we humble ourselves? Not only do we have to fight the fact that it’s not natural, we have to know now to humble ourselves. Let us know in the comments your ideas.

Humble ourselves

I have found that confession of sin is a great way to humble ourselves. When we confess our sin to God, we humble ourselves before the King of the universe and acknowledge His righteousness and our sinfulness. When we then confess our sins to those we have offended, we further humble ourselves. The more specific and contrite we are, the further we humble ourselves.

Let Him lift

Then we let God do the heavy lifting. Rather than us relying on our own means or on the praise of others to lift us up, we let God do it. This involves a knowledge of who He is and faith in His character and promises. 

6 Do not boast in the presence of the king,

And do not stand in the same place as great people;

7 For it is better that it be said to you, ‘Come up here,’

Than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince,

Whom your eyes have seen.

(Proverbs 25:6-7)

Of course, God is our King. We want to trust Him to know us, and give us the lifting up that is appropriate, and timely.

Trust Him with cares

In this process, we chose to trust Him. We take all of our cares and concerns and place them on His shoulders trusting that He indeed cares for us. We looked earlier at how Jesus is the Good Shepherd who cares for His sheep (1 Peter 5:1-4, John 10:11-18) “True humility is shown by our ability to cast our care upon God. It is proud presumption to take things into our own worry and care about things that God has promised to take care of (Matthew 6:31-34)…Spurgeon used the illustration of a man who came to move your furniture, but he carried a huge and heavy backpack of his own. He complains that he finds it difficult to do the job of moving your furniture; would you not suggest that he would find it easier if he laid his own burden aside so that he could carry yours?” (enduringword.com)

RЯeflection

• When was the last time you confessed your sins to the Lord? It should be as routine as our sinning! And likewise with those we sin against. Let’s not fear the humility that comes from the process but, rather, embrace it – knowing God gives grace to the humble (v5).
• Have you cast your cares upon the Lord? Have you truly let them go? Spend some time thinking through this. Don’t let it go by without taking action as the Spirit leads.