Humility

This is another study that came from one of Pastor David Brock's messages, and it covers 1 Pet 5:5-11.  The book of 1 Peter is written to those who are going through trials; in other words, us!  We all know that if we are faithful to God, if we have accepted the Lord, Jesus Christ as our savior, Satan will do his best to bring us down.
In Chapter 5 of 1 Peter, he is telling the elders of the church to teach the children of God to practice humility toward others.  The reason for this is covered in the end of verse 5:

          "God opposes the proud
           but shows favor to the humble" (NIV).

In other words, God gives His sufficiency to the humble.

In verse 6, we are to humble ourselves before God and He will exalt, or lift us up in due time.  Again, He will bless us if we are humble.  For instance, if we feel slighted in a situation with another, instead of being offended, show humility.  Verse 7 tells us how to handle these situations.  "Cast all your anxiety on Him..." (NIV).  This is often called "let go and let God".  When we refuse to cast our troubles on Him, we are ultimately saying that we do not trust God to handle our lives.  Do we honestly think that we can handle our lives better than our creator?  How proud is that?!!

Verse 8 tells us to be alert for Satan and his bag of tricks.  We need to be God-controlled and not tempted by Satan's worldly sins, which come at us daily.  He will use anything to ruin our walk with the Lord, including the things that prove to be our worst temptations; (mine is the amount of time I spend watching the TV or on the computer), our relationships, our thought-processes, what we think are our rights, etc.  Think for a moment about the things that are your temptations.  Get them in line...talk to the Lord about them, and ask for His help with them.  It is silly pride when we say, "I am mature enough to handle this.  I know when to stop.  I do not need God's help."  As soon as we say this, watch out!  That is the first step down the slippery slope, and off the path to God.  Put up barriers to block these temptations.

Then, as verse 9 an 10 tell us, we are to stand firm in the faith and know that we are not alone.  God's grace will bring stability in our lives.  Grace is God's sufficiency in our insufficiency.  God restores, or fixes, that which is broken; then He us makes strong externally and firm internally.  Finally, He makes us steadfast, or unshakable.  Only God does this.  Our stability is found in God. God is glorified when we are weak and God's strength restores us for all to see.  We reveal who God is!