3 May 2012

I Peter 5:5

Posted by joncooper

I Peter 5:5: “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”

This is a hard one for me. I have noticed that older people tend to be crabby, self-centered, rude, irritable, and just plain mean. They tend to set a very poor example and act like spoiled children. It is very difficult to respect them when they act in ways that would not be tolerated if they were five years old, much less eighty-five. The biggest troublemakers I have known in church have been old people. The young may have a bad reputation, but they do not seem to cause nearly as much lasting harm as an older person who has been going to the same church for 70 years. (I will not say that all of them are like this, for there are very dear and loving exceptions, but this is something I have seen again and again. It is astonishing how many times trouble in the church can be traced back to a bitter old person.)

Yet we are to respect them, and yield to them, and do what we can to honor them. There is no room for pride in the presence of God. We may not like it and we may not think it is “fair”, but it must be done. After all, when Jesus was on earth He took on Himself the form of a servant. Should not we do the same?

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