"The Weekly Word"

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 Clothe yourselves, all of you with humility toward one another, 1 Peter 5:5

                This is such a beautiful concept, the concept of humility. I think of it as being humble, yes. But it’s so much more. Humility is about fully, joyfully, willingly being humble, looking to be humble, naturally being humble.

                And here’s the verse asking us to adopt humility as part of our outfit, part of the daily clothes we wear as Christians. And I just wonder, how should I be doing that? What does it mean to regularly, naturally be humble? Of course, it’s beautiful to think of it as a way of living as a believer one hundred percent of the time. But now the practical question. Is total humility, a realistic concept, or just fantasizing.

                And I love what this verse does in taking the concept of individual humility a little further. The instruction is actually to let everyone dress in the right way, so we would all show humility towards each other. Wow! Everyone is humble towards everyone else. A short sentence for sure. But is this again the fantasy world, are we in la la land territory?

                And then I think of Jesus, and how he lived. He instructed his disciples to constantly be humble towards each other, whether they were or weren’t. He kept reminding them of it as he journeyed with them, and then eventually left them. He reminded them he would come back and be with them, and then he would take them and everyone who called on him to be with him in heaven.

                And there it is! In heaven friends is where we will realize the concept of total humility, where everyone will think about everyone else. Where we’ll simply be focused on God, and all around will be compassion, kindness, joy, and praise! The clothes will fit perfectly!

                But now, as we wind our way towards that heavenly mansion, we must continue to walk humbly, keep trying on those clothes of Jesus. Maybe they don’t fit perfectly or show perfectly quite yet, but we can keep trying the clothes on so at least on our part, we can honestly say we’re doing what Jesus asks.

                It’s so easy to read verses like these and think about what others are doing or aren’t doing to apply this instruction. The fact remains, The only one each person can worry about is themselves. And whether we like that or not. That’s the way it simply is!

                So are you as far as it depends on you trying on the clothes of humility? Are you making sure to show compassion and kindness no matter what anybody else around you does? Are you making sure to say to Jesus, yes, I hear you? And as Jesus is your store clerk today handing you the clothes, are you willing to keep going back to the fitting room again and again, until the day the clothes fit perfectly?

To God be the glory!

Pastor Brandon