“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:6).

The words “humble yourselves” in this verse speak of “making oneself low, of bringing to the ground, reducing to the realm of being plain.” In other words, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Peter tells believers, “Don’t think too highly of yourself. Don’t be so impressed with yourself that your head is in the clouds.”

My dear grandfather had an uncommon way of expressing things. He once spoke of an arrogant person as being “too big for his own britches!” Picture that!

It reminds me of a young missionary (not a Baptist Church Planters missionary). He came to one of the churches that I was pastoring at the time. Within twenty minutes of arriving at the church, he had somehow managed to offend every single person at that Wednesday night prayer meeting. As Grandfather would say, “He was far too big for his own britches!” I stopped him halfway through the message and took back the service! That young missionary never learned to humble himself. He and his family never made it in ministry. You and I can learn much from this situation. Thinking highly of our Lord, but not so highly of ourselves is a very wise goal for each of us.

Here’s what I want to remember: When we think of the greatness of the Lord, we will view ourselves in a much more accurate way. It’s called “humility”!