Have you ever noticed how often Peter emphasizes the practical application of the truths he is writing about? He has given instruction to the elders and now he warns of two problems which Christian leaders continually face.
The first is pride, the second is anxiety.
The clothes of humility (v. 5) should be worn by every Christian. God does not like proud people. To be proud means to think you are above everybody else in one area or another. Pride is possibly the commonest and worst form of sin.
When we see that pride is really the glorifying of self instead of Christ, we realize how wrong it is. The safest way to avoid pride is to continually give all the glory to Christ for everything.
The second problem Peter deals with is anxiety (v. 7). You can call it worry, or care or just plain sin. Deep in our hearts we know that worry is unbelief and distrust. When the circumstances are changed, we often acknowledge this fact when we say 'Father forgive us for not trusting you'.
What are some things we worry about? Family and business problems, finances, health, even matters in the church and our spiritual needs.
What should we do about these cares? We are to cast all our burdens on the Lord. It means to do it once and for all. Could we ever do this? When we resolve to do it, there will come from God the strength needed to do what he tells us to do.
And remember he cares for us. As someone said 'it matters to him about you'. The Christian faith is built on this great truth that we have a God who loves us and cares for us continually.
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