Devotion's by Deborah

Devotion 12-30-23. 1 Peter 5:6- "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time" The idea of humility, of humbling ourselves to anyone, seems foreign. Most are not sure that God even exists, much less having any thought of humbling oneself before Him. In our western culture, humility of any kind is a scarce commodity. We are trained to compete, fight for our rights, try to win, and if necessary, step on others. Winning is important. Dominance is important. Humility is not important and seems to be weakness. But, as with most everything related to God, God upsets, and turns upside down, the whole concept of life. In 1 Peter 4, Peter had encouraged his readers to suffer for Christ. In the beginning verses of 1 Peter 5, Peter encourages church leaders to lead as Jesus would, tending their flocks with nurturing care. They were not to dominate or dictate, not to be arrogant and demanding. Younger believers were to honor and listen to more mature guides in the flock. All these behaviors run counter to our culture of "me first," "me only," "Me! The interesting thought here is being "exalted." What is required to be exalted? Humility is required. Real, intense, ongoing, genuine humility is required. God knows genuine. God recognizes fake. Only as we really, truly humble ourselves with God, clearly obeying what we know from HIS word, not the word of men, will we see God's hand in our life, lifting us up. Is obedience and love of God the goal or is exultation the goal? Both, but only in the right order. If we obey and love here, we may or may not experience exultation here; but we will, without question, experience it in heaven. Is it hard to to humble yourself? Do you struggle? Ask for help. God will give you innumerable situations that require humility! Bow under them, just do it. Look to God, not yourself. He is our source for all that is good!