Attitude of Humility

Do you know many humble people?  Can you name a person who is humble?  We read in 1 Peter 5:5-6, “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’  Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you . . .”

An attitude of humility is a missing virtue in our culture.  When we clothe ourselves with humility, we have the attitude that we are not too great to stoop.  And by the way, this notion was totally foreign in the pagan world.  Humility was not a virtue in the pagan world, just like it isn’t a virtue today.  Humble people today get mocked and trampled.  They are called wimps by the world.  This was the same in Peter’s day.  Humility was for weak and cowardly people.

When Peter wrote this part of his letter, he might have been remembering Jesus on the night of the Last Supper.  We read in John 13 that Jesus looked, and the disciples’ feet were not washed.  And so, He got up from the table and He girded himself and He stooped and washed the disciples’ filthy feet.  This is the Son of God who put on that garment and tied the knot in the slave’s apron and bent down and washed their dirty feet.  And so, Peter says we need to put it on, too.  We need to clothe ourselves with the attitude of a foot washer, the attitude of a servant toward one another.

Now to support his exhortation in verse 5, Peter quotes from Proverbs 3:34 which states, “God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  So, “why be humble?”  Because God gives grace to the humble, but He opposes the proud.  And, “Why is God opposed to the proud?”  Very simply, God opposes the proud because he hates pride.

As followers of Jesus, may we choose the attitude of humility in the way in which we relate to people in our families, in our neighborhoods, in our church, and in our workplaces.  May we have the attitude of a foot washer, the attitude of a servant!!