1. 1 Peter 5:5 (ESV)
  2. Application

Humility before the shepherds

1 Peter 5:5 (ESV)

5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

It is the nature of the younger to take risks and to desire change. Peter does not say that that in itself is wrong. He does say, however, that the younger need consciously to place themselves under the shepherds God has placed over his flock (and hence over them). It is an act of faith to do so. Further, the placing of the instruction in the first part of 1 Peter 5:5 alongside the instruction in the second part of the verse indicates that the younger too need to make a point of clothing themselves with humility in relation to their elders. Impatience with the way the elders shepherd the flock can be a form of arrogance. And arrogance has no future.