The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed:
Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly,
not for dishonest gain but eagerly;
nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.
1 Peter 5:1-4
I want you to read that….wait, actually before you read any more, before you read any blog post of mine(Brothers/Sisters in Christ), I want you to pray to Almighty God, pray that He reveals Himself through what you are reading, Pray that He reveals whatever scripture I am quoting, gives you complete understanding and knowledge in that scripture.
Look at what Peter is saying "Shepherd the flock not by Compulsion..but willingly" I.e not by force, not by your irrational motives. "Not for dishonest gain..but eagerly; Nor as being lords over those entrusted to you."
What does he mean by "lords?" what does that even mean? It means a person who has authority over others. I.E don't shepherd people like you are the authority. You must always point people to God and what He says,
without puffing yourself up in the process.
Yeah, you can just read over all that is being said in 1 Peter 1-5 and be like "yeah ok", and maybe even say "yeah this is for clergy men or preachers" but no!
this is for everyone.
A lot of people like to puff themselves up, they like to think because they know this scripture or that scripture or because they can quote this or that, that they're better then a brother or sister in Christ, or better then a non-believer in general. Yet we must remember, we are not to put ourselves or our knowledge on pedestals, who gave us said knowledge? God, that is who we glorify..NEVER ourselves. To put what Peter is saying in even more simplistic terms; Yes indeed, some of us may have more knowledge of the word. Some of us may have a closer walk with Christ, but it is not US that we are to glorify for that.
We also don't lord our knowledge over others like we are to be praised for it, we share what we have learned and give all glory to God. For nothing that I have or you have is worth boasting about, for it all comes from God almighty. We share what God has revealed through His word and our lives with each other, not to praise ourselves but to praise God, not to gain knowledge of ourselves but to gain knowledge of God.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; [it is] the gift of God,not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9
For who makes you differ [from another]? And what do you have that you did not receive?
Now if you did indeed receive [it],
why do you boast as if you had not received [it]?
1 Corinthians 4:7
Why do you boast of which you didn't achieve?
It's not about "look at what i've done.." "Look at what knowledge I have" it's ALL about look at what Christ has done, look at what God has given.
It would be like if I got injured in a basketball game, and then the person who came into the game for me.. hit the game winning shot, and then I ran around boasting about how awesome I am.
putting yourself on a pedestal and lording your knowledge of God on others isn't how you shepherd, the knowledge you've gained by Gods grace and through the Holy spirit isn't for the purpose of YOUR GLORY! It IS NOT for you to hold in and puff yourself up with, and to show how great you are and knowledgeable….NO
It's for Gods GLORY! you humble yourself and you share what knowledge you've gained with others so that they may also boast in GOD and what He has done for them.
Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to [your] elders. Yes, all of [you] be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for
God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.
Surely He scorns the scornful,
But gives grace to the humble.-(Proverbs 3:34)
Therefore humble yourselves
under the mighty hand of God,
that He may exalt you in due time,
casting all your care upon Him,
for He cares for you.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
1 Peter 5:5-8
Interesting is it not? Do you not see what Peter is saying?
do you not see how much he is warning?
Look how he says to humble yourselves to be submissive to one another, he is talking about young people to respect older…yes, but ALL to be submissive to each other. Again not to lord knowledge over each other, not to put yourselves above each other but to be clothed inhumility.
Can we safely say we are this way? I know I can't say I have been in every situation. Notice how Peter warns of humbleness,submissiveness and then as it would seem brings the Devil up out of nowhere? But he brought him up for a reason didn't he, it's because satan is the ultimate form of prideful, the classic example, the king of pridehimself. So Peter warns us if we don't humble ourselves before God, if we start to get on the path of self righteousness and lording our knowledge over others, and boasting in ourselves we are being children of the devil in danger of being overwhelmed and devoured by him.
Pride [goes] before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.
Proverbs 16:18
"A truly humble man is sensible of his natural distance from God; of his dependence on Him; of the insufficiency of his own power and wisdom; and that 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, and His might to enable him to do what he ought to do for Him."
Jonathan Edwards
