1 Peter 5:5b “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.”
The words humble, humility, and meek all mean the same thing.
A humble Christian is willing to learn the Scriptures from anyone, including a child.
Even king Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, said in Ecclesiastes 4:13 “Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.”
You know, when you study the Bible often and deeply, you can find out some interesting things that most people miss.
The Book of Ecclesiastes is the book of Solomon’s repentance. Solomon had married hundreds of heathen wives and they had turned him to worshiping idols.
Ecclesiastes 4:13 indicates that Solomon may have been turned back to God through a child.
1 Peter 5:5 makes it clear that all Christians are to be subject to each other.
Our standard is the truth of the Bible. If someone is speaking the truth of the Bible then everyone else is to be subject to them concerning that truth.
It does not matter if the person speaking that biblical truth is the Pastor or the janitor, young or old, black or white, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, male or female.
The Bible only forbids a wife from teaching her own husband in the church.
1 Timothy 2:12 “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.”
Notice it says “the man” not every man. This is clearly speaking of a wife not being in authority over her own husband, and not teaching him publicly in the church.
The Bible does not teach that all men are over all women. It teaches that a husband is over his wife. A woman is equal with all men except her own husband.
Any man who says that he will not allow a woman to teach him the Bible is a fool! And any husband who refuses to listen to the wise counsel of his wife in private is a fool!
I heard of a Pastor once who said he would never allow a woman to teach him the Bible. Sometime later he ended up in prison for molesting a 16 yr old girl!
Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
A humble Christian will help the poor without looking down on them.
1John 3:16-17 “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?”
James 2:15-16 “If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?”
Ephesians 4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
I Timothy 6:17-19 “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”
Being humble also means that you do not put yourself above God, and that you accept His will in trials.
1Peter 5:6-7 “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
Romans 5:3 “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;”
Now Meekness Is Not Weakness!
Being humble, meek, and having humility does not mean that you cannot rebuke someone for sin.
Jesus is God, therefore He is the meekest of all. Yet He ran sinners out of the Temple with a whip. He also called the Pharisees names! (snakes and vipers) He even called Peter Satan!
John2:14 “And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;
16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.”
Matthew 23:33 “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.”
Mark 8:33 “But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.”
Moses was very meek, yet he commanded the Levites to kill those who had worshipped the golden calf.
Exodus 32:19 “And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.
20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.
21 And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?
22 And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief.
23 For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
24 And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.
25 And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)
26 Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD’s side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.
27 And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.
28 And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.
29 For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.
30 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.”
Therefore, a person can be meek and still harshly rebuke and even punish someone for sin.
This is what true humbleness is. If all churches taught this consistently, and all Christian obeyed this consistently, we could save the world, which is our duty.