"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.” Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time." (1 Peter 5.5-6)

One of my favorite personalities in the Bible has always been Peter, the big fisherman. I can relate to him because he reminds me--of me--and it definitely isn’t his finer qualities to which I relate. I love Peter because he was so human. The first century fisherman was gruff, strong-willed, tempestuous and always had an opinion. When he didn’t know what to do, he talked.

He once corrected Jesus, actually rebuked him, after his master announced his forthcoming rejection and death in Jerusalem. He was not expecting a cross but a crown. Peter also refused to allow Jesus to wash his feet and summarily requested a full bath. He set himself above the other disciples, pledging his loyalty to Jesus even to the point of death. In the garden, he drew a sword and slashed off Malchus’ ear and then went on to deny Jesus. As W.A. Criswell said, Peter was always "striking twelve"--either at some glorious high noon declaration or some dismal midnight disaster.

But something happened. At some point this brash, self-confident, tempestuous fisherman took off the garments of pride and was clothed with humility. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down and Peter was transformed. He was empowered to do in the Spirit what he once boasted to do in the flesh.

Peter exhorts us to “be clothed” with humility. Just like each of us decided what to wear today, we must decide daily to put on the garment of humility. Here are three suggestions to help you:

1. Study the life of Jesus

What does humility look like? Simple: it looks like Jesus, the one who said, “I am meek and lowly of heart.” (Matthew 11:29) Spend time in the gospels, noting how our Lord interacted with others. He was a friend of sinners and washed his disciples’ feet. He invited little children to come to Him. He was moved with compassion on the multitudes while condemning the hypocrisy of the religious leaders.

Paul tells us that Jesus “gave up his divine privileges; took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:7-8)

But as we all know, living the Christian life is not simply following Jesus’ example. That is an ideal that would be impossible for us to achieve. Rather, it is “Christ in you”, empowering you as you daily yield to the Spirit’s control. We die to self so the life of Jesus might be manifest in us. (See Galatians 2:20)

2. Stay on your knees

Prayer is essentially an admission of our dependency on God for everything. Abraham Lincoln once said, “I often find myself on my knees with the overwhelming conviction that I had no place else to go.” We pray because we believe God is sovereign.

Your prayer life is a good measure of your humility. Men who seldom pray are proud men who imagine they are self-sufficient and do not sense their own spiritual poverty. The Apostle Paul wrote, "Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God." (2 Corinthians 3:5)

Pray that God, in His great mercy, will remove every vestige of pride from your heart. Ask Him to show you the depth and meaning of true humility. Pray until you know He’s doing a work of grace in your life. Continue in sincere and earnest prayer that God will make you capable of living in the power of the Holy Spirit. Refuse to let go until the blessing comes.

3. Starve the flesh

Four times in the gospels, Jesus is recorded as saying, “Whoever finds his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake the same shall find it.” This seeming paradox means living for yourself is a dead-end street. Living for Christ is the way to an abundant, meaningful life. It means you follow Him on His terms, following His will, depending completely on Him.

Starving the flesh requires three things:

• First, refusing to complain. Contentment is the fruit of a surrendered life. A humble person knows he deserves nothing. Refuse to criticize others and rather strive to see good in them.

• Second, resist defending yourself. A humble person welcomes correction and sees reproof as a means of further humbling. He considers abrasive people as God’s sandpaper to work humility into their lives.

• Finally, rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice. A truly humble man lives a life of praise and thanksgiving to God. He recognizes that all he has and all that he is, is what he has freely received from his heavenly Father.

I leave you with a wonderful quote on humility by the great puritan pastor, Thomas Watson:

"A castle that has long been besieged and is ready to be taken will deliver up on any terms to save their lives. He whose heart has been a garrison for the devil and has held out long in opposition against Christ when once God has brought him to poverty of spirit and he sees himself damned without Christ, let God propose what terms He will, the man will readily subscribe to them with ‘Lord, what will You have me to do.’"