1 Peter 5:5-7
Peter tells us to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, using “therefore” as his way into this statement. “Therefore” what? “For God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5). Because God resists pride but offers grace to the humble, it makes sense that believers would strive for humility and not pride, knowing that we will be exalted when God sees fit (verse 6).
The sixth verse ends with a colon, meaning that the seventh verse is going to tell us how to humble ourselves: “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7). When we cast our cares onto Christ, we are humbling ourselves by admitting that we cannot take care of our own issues. Pride causes us to hang on to things that we should let go of, but the casting off of those things onto the finished work of Jesus is a true act of humility.
There is no pride busting message like the message of God’s grace. Pride tries to keep the law to overcome failure; offering religion as a way to defeat sin and vice. The individuals that live this way are mean when they are right and miserable when they are wrong. Only true, radical grace, where a man knows that he cannot save himself and desperately needs the never-ending flow of God’s love and forgiveness, can ever break that wicked pride.
Retaining your cares; thinking that one more day of worrying and working will help you to figure things out, is an insult to the work that Jesus accomplished for you at the cross. When you labor under your own works, you are saying, “I can do this! I don’t need any help; not from man and not from God”. How dare us!
We must humble ourselves, and this does not entail self-beatings and denying ourselves things to curtail the flesh. Humbling ourselves involves giving in to God’s glorious grace; understanding our own hopelessness and uplifting His victory on the cross. As we concentrate more and more on His finished work, we will naturally concentrate less and less on our inabilities and failures. By trusting in Him and His love for us, we are becoming less self dependent and more Christ-dependent. He becomes our everything, with true humility being the result.
He WILL NOT humble you into receiving His gift of grace. You must decide that you will live by His grace and favor. Any other decision is a leaning to our pride and self-sufficiency. Remember that abundant grace is a gift to be received (Romans 5:17). You are humbled naturally when you lift your eyes from you and onto Him and His loveliness.
Peter tells us to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, using “therefore” as his way into this statement. “Therefore” what? “For God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5). Because God resists pride but offers grace to the humble, it makes sense that believers would strive for humility and not pride, knowing that we will be exalted when God sees fit (verse 6).
The sixth verse ends with a colon, meaning that the seventh verse is going to tell us how to humble ourselves: “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7). When we cast our cares onto Christ, we are humbling ourselves by admitting that we cannot take care of our own issues. Pride causes us to hang on to things that we should let go of, but the casting off of those things onto the finished work of Jesus is a true act of humility.
There is no pride busting message like the message of God’s grace. Pride tries to keep the law to overcome failure; offering religion as a way to defeat sin and vice. The individuals that live this way are mean when they are right and miserable when they are wrong. Only true, radical grace, where a man knows that he cannot save himself and desperately needs the never-ending flow of God’s love and forgiveness, can ever break that wicked pride.
Retaining your cares; thinking that one more day of worrying and working will help you to figure things out, is an insult to the work that Jesus accomplished for you at the cross. When you labor under your own works, you are saying, “I can do this! I don’t need any help; not from man and not from God”. How dare us!
We must humble ourselves, and this does not entail self-beatings and denying ourselves things to curtail the flesh. Humbling ourselves involves giving in to God’s glorious grace; understanding our own hopelessness and uplifting His victory on the cross. As we concentrate more and more on His finished work, we will naturally concentrate less and less on our inabilities and failures. By trusting in Him and His love for us, we are becoming less self dependent and more Christ-dependent. He becomes our everything, with true humility being the result.
He WILL NOT humble you into receiving His gift of grace. You must decide that you will live by His grace and favor. Any other decision is a leaning to our pride and self-sufficiency. Remember that abundant grace is a gift to be received (Romans 5:17). You are humbled naturally when you lift your eyes from you and onto Him and His loveliness.
