In this sermon, Pastor Babij teaches on the Christian’s obligation of humility before God and man, giving three promptings and postures Christians must take:
1) Clothe yourself with lowly mindedness so you can serve others
2) Posture yourself under the mighty hand of God
3) Perform humility by throwing your worries, fears, and anxieties upon God
Full Transcript:
In 1 Peter 5:5-7, we are looking at the obligation of Christian humility:
You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. 6Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
Let’s pray:
Father, as we look at this passage of Scripture, give us a better understanding of what humility looks like in our lives, so that we may follow this imperative. I pray as we do, Lord, we can reap the benefits and promises of putting these commands into practice. Lord, make us like You. I pray this in Christ’s name. Amen.
We have been seeing that Peter’s original audiences are believers who are coming under persecution for their faith. Their present sufferings were the result of outburst of fanatical, pagan hatred against Christians, which is on a rise today all over the world. 1 Peter 4:12-13 says:
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; 13but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.
The Apostle thought it was very important for the recipients of this letter, and to those who would read it afterwards, to understand three major areas: salvation, submission, and suffering. In this last area, Peter thinks it is very important for us to receive three exhortations: an exhortation for humility, which leads into an exhortation for vigilance in our Christian walk. Then, an exhortation to resist, so humility with balanced vigilance leads into resisting the adversary.
All three areas have an important place within the life of every believer, especially if or when that believer experiences the storms of trial. In a sense, all of those things are ordained by God for our own Christian growth and edification. When Christians embrace the exhortation for humility and meet the conditions in 1 Peter 5:5-6, then they can rest on a wonderful promise in 1 Peter 5:7, which is God caring for you. When we go through difficult times, do we really sense that God cares for us?
If we have been practicing these exhortations, then we will find out that God always cares for us, and we will know that, especially during the hard times. So, let’s look at the first exhortation, which will help us keep our obligation to live for Christ in this world as real aliens heading home, and while we are heading home, let’s do these things. The first exhortation is that of humility. 1 Peter 5:5 says:
You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another…
According to the college dictionary, an exhortation is an utterance conveying urgent advice and recommendation. In other words, it would be very wise for you to practice this command. As a believer, it will have benefits that you will reap.
D.L. Moody, a very influential evangelist, once met a man named Dr. Bonaire. He said that Bonaire used to teach that he can tell when a Christian was growing in the Lord. He would say that he knew when they were growing in the Lord when they grew in His grace. They begin, in their conversation and manner of life, to elevate the Master, talk less of what they were doing themselves, and to become smaller and smaller in their own estimation. You go into the background and Christ becomes preeminent in your life. That is how you know you are growing in the Lord, especially in this area of humility.
Humility is a hard thing to define or wrap your mind around. However, in our Scripture, we see that Peter started a general exhortation for us, and he brings us to the place where he prompts us to assume the posture of humility. Peter has been exhorting church leaders in time of suffering by saying that they must continue to feed and shepherd the flock during hard times. Thus, the leaders need to learn by example as they look to their great over shepherd, Jesus Christ. In 1 Peter 5:4, it says:
And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
Elders will receive a high honor and distinction as they do what God asks them to do in Scripture, and not deviate or add to the revelation given through the word of God. Rather, to keep going through the word of God. Elders are not to lord over the congregation or the people. Instead, they are to be examples of humility.
In 1 Peter 5:5, the young men are not to despise the elders that are among them. They are not to think that they know better than the long-serving, battle-weathered, and faithful elder. If they take that posture or try to take things into their own hands, which young men tend to do, then it would reveal something else, which is the other side of humility. The other side of humility is pride. Pride is saying:
I can do it. I have the ability to do it. I have the knowledge to do it.
Also, in 1 Timothy 3:6, these are the characteristics of those who are going to be chosen to be future elders:
and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.
Young men tend to go ahead of themselves. Yet, the Bible says that if you do that, then you are doing something you ought not to be doing and acting like the devil. The devil’s greatest sin is pride. He wasn’t satisfied with who God was and wanted to be like him, so he was cast out of heaven because of pride. Pride is a very destructive sin.
Are we all in danger of being prideful? Yes, we are. So, elders have been given a standing and authority by God because of their office. Not necessarily because of who they are or where they came from, but because of the office that they hold, which God has given them.
Just as their Lord and Shepherd was an example of humility, the elders were to be examples of submission, especially during times of suffering. Furthermore, young men were to show their submission to the Lord by manifesting their proper and willing submission to their God appointed elders. The example of the young men is to be contagious. Then, that contagion is to go through the whole congregation. 1 Peter 5:5 says:
… and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility…
The young men and the elders become examples of this posture of humility. In fact, it is the only attitude that pleases the great over shepherd, the Lord, Jesus Christ. Young men are to have lowly mindedness. In 1 Peter 5:5, he says:
…clothe yourselves with humility…
Meaning, to put an apron on. You are to apron yourself with a lowly mindedness. Yourself is a reflexive word, which means that you are to take the responsibility and obligation to do this yourself. This a command that means a willful and voluntary submission.
Continuing from 1 Peter 5:5, the context of humility is expanded from the young men submitting to the elders to all people, which encompasses the elders, young men, and all the saints of the congregation. A Greek professor, William Mounts, who writes a good volume on the Greek language, said:
True humility is recognizing the intrinsic worth of others. It is the candid appraisal of others as subjects of divine love. Therefore, worthy of ones sacrifice and service. It is the decision to serve others on the basis of having been served by Christ himself.
Notice, in 1 Peter 5:5, it says:
clothe yourselves with humility toward one another
This is not something done in a vacuum, or alone in your closet. Rather, this is done in the community of believers. Thus, 1 Peter 5:5 is an imperative saying that we are to put on humility, and as we put on humility, we take off pride. It conveys the picture of an apron of a slave fastened to his undergarments. The word suggests that Christians should serve one another in the same way that slaves serve their masters.
It is possible that this metaphor is suggested by the account of Jesus taking the towel and washing His disciples’ feet. In John 13:4-16, Jesus is teaching this posture of humility that is pleasing to the Lord, and when you are in that position, that is the best position to be in before God:
got up from supper and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. 5Then He poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. 6So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” 7Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.” 8Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”… 12So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13“You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. 14“If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15“For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. 16“Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.
This passage of Scripture is giving us an example. When I first became a Christian, I went to a church that did feet washing. Coming from my background, I was shocked to see someone wash someone else’s feet, which is very humbling. Feet are not known to be the prize possession of your body, especially if they have been tucked in your shoes for eight hours or more a day.
The main point of this is example is of humbling yourself, and willingly putting yourself under someone else. It’s not by pulling rank on them, and not thinking that you are better than them no matter what God has given you or how He has gifted you to serve somebody, who, in the worlds eyes, are not worthy to be served. In fact, they are not recognized at all. Yet, as believers, God calls us to serve everyone else regardless of who they are or where they came from.
A suggested, expanded translation of this passage is to wrap yourself with humility to be servants of one another. Furthermore, recognize how God has given some the office of elder to whom He sovereignly wills. Such humility toward elders and fellow Christians is the outward expression of humility towards God. We humble ourselves before God by humbling ourselves before people, and to do that, you must swallow a whole lot of pride. In 1 Peter 5:6, he brings up the second thing:
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God…
That is where we are to posture ourselves. The posture of humility is under the authority of another. We are to give our consent for this to be done to us, so the suggested understanding of the passion is to allow yourselves to be humbled under the mighty hand of God. In a context of affliction, accept the difficulties that have been brought your way by God himself. The things that bring you low enter your life with the sovereign approval of God.
You are under the mighty hand of God, which is another Hebrew phrase to express what God is in a particular character. For example, the body part of the hand exhibits some characteristic of God. Usually, it conveys God’s power, might, authority, and sovereignty. It is exhibited in action in the experiences of men whether it is for deliverance, punishment, or chastisement. It is this picture of the mighty hand of God that we are to put ourselves under, which is frequent in the Old Testament. Exodus 3:20 says:
So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go.
This refers to the mighty act of God. Ultimately, under the mighty hand of God is the humble servant to deliver a whole nation, and to bring that nation under bondage into the wilderness in which they will learn daily about the caring hand of God. With the clothes on their back, the sandals on their feet, and with the little provisions they can take with them, until they can find themselves under the care of God in a place that is a desert. You must depend on God there.
Meaning, all Christians are to allow themselves to be humble under the mighty hand of God. This strong exhortation is given in the backdrop of God’s constant care for His children. In the Christian’s present circumstances when trialed by fire, such humility towards God must be shown by patient and trustful acceptance of whatever circumstances God has given to you at that time, and knowing that He is giving it to you with a loving purpose in mind, to make you like Him, and to bring you to understand that you are under a mighty God, who cares for you.
In doing that, His children must not resent whatever strange thing you may be going through. You will not think about it as strange. Rather, you will think about it as something God has ordained for you. While you are going through that, you should not be riddled with anxiety and worry.
If you do not allow yourself to be humble, then you show yourself to be proud. The proud person has God as their adversary. Believe me, brethren, that is an unwise posture. In the last part of 1 Peter 5:5, it says:
…for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.
Do you want God against you where you will not win, or do you want God’s favor for you? There is no in-between here. It is something we ought to be considering very carefully as a believer. If you allow yourself to remain in the state of pride, not only do you have God as your opposer, but an enemy who is ready to step in and manipulate your situation even more. 1 Peter 5:8 says:
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
In this passage, he will devour the proud person who has not learned humility. The Christian who thinks they can do it on their own without the church and believers they do not have the attitude that pleases God when trouble comes, but they have the opposite. As soon as we think that we can take matters into our own hands, especially in times of trouble, then we are already prideful. James 4:6-7 says:
But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” 7Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
The word of God is saying that the one who is able to tempt you worse into a deeper bondage of your situation is the enemy himself. Thus, the sovereign hand of God not only delivers, but controls the process of spiritual education. If God allows us to enter into a difficult place in our life, then we ought to remain with meekness to learn what it is that we need to learn.
To the suffering Christian, this also suggests that to be under the mighty hand of God is not a burdensome place. The people of Israel had to learn in the desert. Being in the desert was not a burdensome place even though they often thought of it that way. Actually, it was a place of blessing. It was a place where God was going to have His presence in the tabernacle. It was a place that God was going to feed them from heaven.
Yet, they kicked and rebelled against God, and a lot didn’t make it to the promise land. They opposed God because of pride. They wanted to go back to Egypt for protection because they did not think they were being cared for in the desert, but they were.
Thus, it is not a burdensome place. Actually, it is a place of protection. When you are in a difficult situation, it is a place of strength and of help. Now, you will really experience God’s help. If you can spin all of the plates, then you don’t need God, but when the plates start tottering, then you realize you need God and His divine help.
We are to recognize God’s hand not only in the joys that come to us, but also in the sorrows and afflictions that humble us. Many times, those times of difficulties are for that very purpose – to drive out the remaining pride in our heart and to humble ourselves before God. That is when God shows you His grace, that He cares for you, and that He provides for you. During those times, you get a sense that the Lord is in your presence.
Human sin is an ingredient in most of our trials, but God can make the wrath of men to praise Him. He can’t turn what men mean for evil to our advantage. A good example is found in Joseph. In Genesis, when Joseph was sold into slavery by his wicked brothers, they were shocked when they stood before Joseph in Egypt where they heard for the first time that their evil plan God turned for good and for blessing. Genesis 45:8 says:
Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Joseph is saying to his brothers that they did not send him into slavery, but that God did that. It takes a very humble person to recognize and admit that. Furthermore, in Genesis 50:20:
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.
During that time, there was a great famine, so God used Joseph to rise to this position to provide food for a large amount of people including his family. See, I am stressing very strongly how important humility is in our life. In 1563, the Heidelberg Catechism, a document that explains doctrine, was explaining humility:
In Him (that is God, the Father) I trust and doubt not. He will care for me and even all the troubles, which He sends to me in the veil of tears, He will turn to my good. This, as Almighty God, He can do. As my faithful Father will do, health, sickness, riches, and poverty are not works of chance, but these all come to us from the Father’s hand.
That is recognizing that we live under the mighty hand of God. Another way of saying that is this: we live under the eyes of God. Every day and everywhere we go, God is watching us. If you are kicking, complaining, and murmuring under affliction, then you have forgotten that God is there and that you are under the hand of God.
Recognize the permitting hand of God, who loves His own children, is ever present with us. Our humiliation will not last forever, and it says that in the word of God. For those whom God now allows to share His humiliation on this earth will, presently and in the future, will be a cause to share in the Son’s glory. There is always something future for us to look forward to, and the future is very encouraging for us believers.
In the mind of a Christian, a humble person knows that God is in control of all that happens. Now, we say it, but do we actually live this way. A humble person voluntarily accepts the circumstances in their life as the permissive will of God. The humble person knows God is for them, not against them. He is a God who is good and of all grace. The humble person wants others to trust the Lord, and to submit humbly to His control.
In their trial, they want to present the Gospel not only with their mouth, but with their life. The humble looks forward to the fulfillment of God’s promise. In 1 Peter 5:6, there are benefits to humility:
… that He may exalt you at the proper time
The word that introduces the purpose of humility. God’s goal for all of us is for the promise of God to be fulfilled in you, and it is God himself who does the exalting. Luke 14:11 says:
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Then, Luke 14:14 says:
…for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.
In the Scripture, this exalting of God will happen in due time. In other words, the readers humbling will be enabled by God to fulfill His promise in future exaltation where the point of time will be the second coming of Christ. We may not receive that now, but we will definitely, without a shadow of doubt, receive it at the coming of Christ.
Christ will exalt His children that have humbled themselves on the earth to do His work and give Him glory. In His good and perfect time and when He sees fit, He alone will lift you up. That is a promise and guarantee by God.
Baring suffering with humility is the condition of being exalted to a full and final favor. It could be in the present at any time, but it will definitely be in the future. In saying all of that, how can we practice humility under a mighty hand of God? 1 Peter 5:7 tells us the performing of humility:
casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
As Christians, we know something about God’s character from the word of God. In turn, we do something, which is to throw something on God. The word casting doesn’t mean to drop it out of your pocket. Rather, it means to fling this burden in your life on God. It is the thing we all have a problem with – worry.
Worry is anxiety, especially since worry causes a huge amount of anxiety. We are to take what we know we are anxious about and throw it upon someone else. This is how we perform humility before God, the Father. Actually, this shows that the true Christian’s attitude is not negative, but it is self-humbling, which is positive by trusting yourself and your troubles to the God who cares for you.
Johnathan Edwards, a great thinker, theologian, and pastor, used to put things so simply. In trying to wrap his mind around humility, he said how humility is defined:
A truly humble man is sensible of the small extent of his knowledge, the great extent of his ignorance, and the small extent of his understanding as compared with the understanding of God. He is sensible of his weaknesses, how little his strength is, and how little he is able to do. He is sensible of his natural distance from God, of his dependence upon Him, of his insufficiency, and of his own power and wisdom. It is by God’s power that he is upheld and provided for, and that he needs God’s wisdom to lead and guide him. His might us enabled him to do what He ought to do for him.
He was trying to understand and put into words what it means to be humble. We are weak, and we need the help of God. To be overwhelmed with anxiety is to be concerned with yourself rather than the concerns that God has. We are to cast each and every kind of thing on Him as an alarm for the persecuted Christian, who tends to believe the lie that God is not strong enough or concerned about your situation.
In fact, this is the very opposite of what is true, which is how God deeply cares and how He doesn’t want the down trotted Christian to carry the load alone. Instead, throw the whole burden on your caring God who knows all of it in detail. In fact, what you are going through, He ordered for you. Psalm 55:22 says:
Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.
Now, what if you don’t cast your burden on the Lord? As a result, you will not be sustained. In other words, we must cast our care on Him to reap the benefits of what God has for us. If we don’t, then we don’t learn our lessons that God is trying to teach us in that circumstance to be truly humble. Matthew 6:25-34:
“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26“Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27“And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28“And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32“For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
So, don’t worry about tomorrow. Don’t be burdened down by the past but live in the present. One of things the worry robs us of is living in the present. We are not working at the percentage that God wants us to work when we are worried. Specifically, what are we to cast on Him?
Well, our daily cares, daily concerns, daily anxieties, and our daily worries. Throw every kind and all your worry upon your caring God. The Christian is invited to let God to carry the burden of their anxiety. One commentary expressed it like this:
Worry or anxiety is when one does not know whether to do this or that.
In other words, worry is a huge distraction to doing what you know you ought to be doing. It almost cripples you. Christians are to cast all that creates anxiety on God whether it is small or large. Cast anything that distracts or prompts us to fear and worry. These are to be handed over to a caring God.
In other words, practicing humility is casting your care on God. Memories of the past, bad experiences, broken relationships, broken hearts, sinful behavior, or bad choices you have made, cast on God. Sometimes you think about those so much and you drag them into your Christian life. Then, you worry about something you can’t do anything about, so they burden you down.
Then, there are the pressures of the present such as career, work, school, housing, financial concerns, raising your kids, and spiritual and physical health. Upon that, the insults you may receive during times of trouble, shame, or lose because you are a believer. Then, of course, there are fears of the future such as living to a certain age and having money to live at that age. There is such a pile of stuff that can cause us to worry, which causes anxiety.
See, God wants us to presently get up every day, and when you pray anything that is burdening your heart, weighing on your mind, or anything you have to do that brings some kin d of anxiousness to you, take it and throw it on God. He wants us to be freed up from that burden, so that we can actually think and know what do.
When we cast our cares onto the Lord, we often find that they were concerns of our own selfishness and pride, not the cares of His kingdom. If we are sufficiently humbled to be willing to do it, then we may cast our worry upon Him. Whether we do it or not, it is a test of the sincerity and reality of our own growth and humility.
Don’t let go of this important and fundamental truth. Know this well because this is where satan will attack us with the fierceness and deadliness of blows to tempt you to doubt the word of God and the character of God. He will come to you and say:
Are you sure your God is strong enough? Are you sure that He is really able to rescue you? Are you sure that He really cares for you? Given your circumstances, it surely doesn’t look like it.
He will lie to you and get you to the place where you are so weakened, burdened, and worry. At that point, your health goes, your relationships get frazzled, and even your desire to want to do the things for the Lord get diminished all because of worry.
Then, worry must be a sin because we are not trusting in God, but in what we can do, what we think is right, what we deserve, and our rights. As a believer, you have no rights. You have one right, which is the right to serve God. Until you became a believer, it was a right you never had, and it is a good right.
If your enemy can get you to think that He is not involved and unconcerned about your dilemma, then he got you, and where does that happen? That happens in your thinking. That happens in your behavior.
Remember, our God is our unseen guest every second of our every day. In fact, this could be the very thing that everyone of us needs to learn. In our saved position in Christ Jesus, yet awaiting full redemption, dropping off these bodies, getting out of this life, and going to heaven, which is God’s timing and will, we need to learn that we live in the presence of God by faith. We need to learn to trust God no matter what we are going through because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7 says:
casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
Please, highlight that in your Bible. Memorize that passage of Scripture. Live that passage of Scripture. If you do, then you will get up in the morning, think through all of your worries and concerns, and you will cast it on God. You ought to trust God because He cares for you.
Once again, the cares, the worries, and the anxieties of God’s sheep are of great concern to Him. Yes, at times, we find ourselves in dire straits to believe God cares. The one solid argument is the Cross of Christ and His resurrection.
Golgotha is both the demonstration and the measure of not only God’s humility where Christ humbled himself to the point of death, but also God’s care for you. He cared that you would be with Him in eternity by sending His son to die in your place, so that you can be saved by the righteousness of Jesus Christ, not your own. That shows the greatest care of God.
Whatever the imposed humiliation the Christian might find themselves in from time to time in their life, they must accept it by putting themselves under the powerful and caring hand of God. By casting ones worries and cares on the God of all grace, it gives the Christian freedom from anxious care enabling them to think soberly and clearly, so that they may be ever vigilant to fight for faith. Next time, we will look at 1 Peter 5:8, which says:
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
In closing, humility has to be pictured in someone’s life. An example of humility before God came in the life of a man named Sir James Simpson, a doctor in Edinburgh. In 1847, he discovered that chloroform could be used as an anesthetic to render people insensible to pain during surgery. Dr. Simpson made it possible for people to go through the most dangerous operations without fear of pain and suffering. I thank the Lord that they have anesthetic today, don’t you?
Some people have claimed that what he discovered was one of the most significant discoveries of modern medicine. Some years later while lecturing at the University of Edinburgh, Dr. Simpson was asked by one of his students:
What do you consider to be the most valuable discovery of your life time?
To the surprise of his students, who expected him to refer to chloroform, Dr. Simpson replied:
My most valuable discovery was when I discovered myself a sinner and that Christ was my savior.
That is a picture of humility. He could have claimed, rightfully so, his greatest accomplishment, which benefits all humanity, but he did not. Rather, he claimed the accomplishment of Christ, which benefits all of the world because of what He has done. That is a small picture of humility.
I pray that for myself and for you that is how to get things done, which is to be humble under the mighty hand of God. We have an obligation to willfully humble ourselves before an Almighty God and become an instrument in God’s hand for the Gospel and for accomplishing His will. Let’s pray:
Lord, thank You for the word of God. Truly, it is a scalpel, a very sharp one, that cuts to the deepest intents of our heart. It exposes us, Lord, for who we are, it shows us who You are, and it also shows us what to do and how it looks. I pray, Lord, that You would make every one of us a person who has taken on the obligation of humility the way the Bible describes it. I pray that when we get there, Lord, let us every day practice living under Your mighty hand and eye. Then, casting our care upon You and thanking You, Lord, for taking our burden. Lord, allow us to be sober, so that we may fight the good fight of faith, give You honor and glory, and be ready to give the Gospel to those who need it. I pray this in Christ’s name. Amen.