1 Peter 5:4-6: In Good Time
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Your life is not about you AND you are about life. (Rohr 133)
Our American culture does not encourage humility. Our impatience, arrogance and anxiety do not inspire modesty or self-effacement. The American experiment strives continually to present to the world a larger-than-life image. We will have to put this indoctrination aside if we wish to be good citizens of the world.
From the first letter of Peter: Beloved, clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for: God opposes the proud but bestows favor on the humble. So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that God may exult you in good time. Cast all your worries upon God for God loves you. (1 Peter 5:4-6)
These are difficult words for many of us to hear. They are difficult to share; and they are difficult to put into practice; yet Richard Rohr, OFM reminds us that . . .
“All the truly great people persons I have met are characterized by what I would call “radical humility”. They are deeply convinced that they are drawing from another source; they are instruments. Their genius is not their own; it is borrowed . . . They live in gratitude and confidence, and they try to let the flow continue through them. They know that ‘love is repaid by love alone,’ as both St. Francis of Assisi and St. Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897) have said”. (Rohr 134)
If we have arrived to mid-life and have yet to learn that the multiverse does not revolve around our whims, we will have to learn this lesson before we are able to enter fully into kingdom work. Jesus demonstrates for us that strength comes from our willingness to think and act for the common good. The Spirit is always nudging us to heal others, to place our fears in God’s hands, and to be persistent in our eagerness to follow Christ.
Rohr points out for us these words from St. Paul: Your life is hidden with Christ in God. He is your life, and when he is revealed, you will be revealed in all your glory with him. (Colossians 3:3-4)
When we demonstrate our understanding that our goals are best achieved in God’s good time rather than our own, we reap the gift of modesty. When we put ourselves into proper proportion with all that surrounds us, we sow the gift of generosity. When we accept the paradox that we are something when we are nothing, we embody Christ for ourselves and others.
Today we practice the art of humility so that we might experience and share the common wonderful peace of Christ.
Enter the word humility into the blog search bar and explore.
Richard Rohr, OFM. A Spring Within Us: A Book of Daily Meditations. Albuquerque, NM: CAC Publishing, 2016.
When we compare different translations of these verses, we open the door to meekness as practiced by Christ. We accept the gift of humility as given by God. And we experience the peace and love that only the Spirit can grant.
To learn more about how humility exalts us, click on the image from THE GREATER GOOD MAGAZINE: SCIENCE-BASED INSIGHTS FOR A MEANINGFUL LIFE at: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/humility_will_make_you_greatest_person_ever
Hands image from: https://www.notiziecristiane.com/la-commovente-preghiera-di-capodanno-scritta-da-un-contadino-sudamericano/
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