Humble Yourself

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” – 1 Peter 5:6-7

“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18) Humility is a defense, therefore pride is a weapon of the devil that he uses liberally.  The carnal heart is infected with pride because it is a pillar of carnality.  A man’s pride chains him to the undue estimation of himself.  Furthermore, it banishes the humility that would invite the character, direction, and hand of God in his life.  Opening the door of access to Christ.   

Jesus Christ said, “I do nothing of myself.”  This is totally contrary to the way the world and Satan.  Satan would have the sanctified, Christian believer, do everything of themselves.  The trials, tribulations, and challenges of life must be met, necessities must be met, and most of us have creature comforts that we feel we must maintain.  In addition, there are goals, ambitions, and wishes that we feel compelled to perform.  All of this brings care, stress, and anxiety.  Take something as simple as cutting the grass.  Apparently, it is unbecoming of a neighbor to have an untidy lawn, so we labor to keep it tidy.  In that process we procure a mower, weed eater, and broom or leaf blower; or we simply pay someone who has that already.  Regardless, we are then in need of gainful employment that will provide the money to pay or procure tools to cut the grass.  Is grass cutting a source of anxiety in our life?  Most likely not, however, it is a stressor.  It brings a cause of care to our little kingdom.  Depending on the size of your kingdom it may be one of the one hundred things that cause care and worry.  You may feel like you are adequately managing the kingdom or totally failing.  In either case, if you have the mindset that you are doing it, that you are in charge; then you are setting yourself up for destruction.  The devil is moving you into the danger zone, setting up pride as an idol in your own heart and letting you believe that “you got this.”  True, it may all be “under control” today, but there is coming a day when it’s not.  There is a day when you need a Savior.  To some it may come sooner rather than later, to a few it may come later, but to all it will come.  The show may go on with a confident smile; but when death comes, nobody can pass judgment without Jesus.  If pride is cemented in your heart, you will not pass judgment.  Therefore, in all things we must “do nothing of myself.”  We must humble ourselves and cast all your care on Him for he careth for you.  Pride can be destroyed in the human heart as surely as sin can, but the world, flesh, and the devil will constantly try to resurrect it.  Therefore, we must die daily and cast it all on Jesus.  Humble ourselves and let him lift us up.

Humility is the silver bullet to the temptation of pride.  Pride leads to care, anxiety, worry, and fear.  Humility firmly puts Jesus Christ in the driver seat.  You don’t have to have it all figured out.  You don’t have to have to be “owning life”; but you do have to cast all your care upon him.  We all must humble ourselves.  When we do, God will lift us up and take care of us; he will keep that which is committed unto him “against that day.”