Clothed in Humility

“Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility” (1 Peter 5:5, ESV). In seven straightforward words, Peter envisioned what may bring a transformative makeover to the church of Jesus Christ.

Peter’s simple command asks, “What if every member of Christ’s body walked in complete humility? How attractive and healing would the gospel be to a lost and hurting world? What glory would God receive if the church’s predominant trait was humility?”

Some Christians picture humility as letting themselves be run over by others. Some see it as dressing in robes and sandals like Saint Francis and forsaking the world. Others think humility is about not offending people, but that’s just man-pleasing rather than God-honoring. None of these images goes to the heart of what humility is. 

I believe Peter’s call for humility suggests how the church could prophetically reveal God’s servant nature to the world. Humility isn’t a self-directed trait. By design, humility is relational, and its effect is powerful.

The apostle Paul taught, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:5-7).

What Paul said about humility is profoundly countercultural. The world despises and mocks humility, yet Peter says God exalts those who walk in it. This doesn’t mean that operating in humility is easy. Actually, it is impossible to walk in humility apart from Spirit-given grace. 

According to Peter, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5). Our humility is Spirit-empowered, while at the same time, God resists our pride. If we operate in our flesh-driven effort, God will stop blessing us in order to lovingly deal with our pride. He doesn’t do this solely for the sake of correcting us; he also does it because he seeks to reveal his nature through us.

God’s mighty hand is in charge of our advancement in life, and he brings about any exalting as we obey his call to humility. Trusting in him is the first step in clothing ourselves in humility. When we do this, we see his work in our lives as never before. As his church, we will awe the world with service worthy of our Savior.