1 Peter 5:5

1 Peter 5:5

5 Likewise you younger people, 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.”

One of those “four letter” words is ‘submissive’. Because all we have seen and heard of in relation to the word submissive have all been negative. Most women cringed when they hear the word submissive and are quick to either lash out at the person who says it or instead forms an negative opinion of the person.

The word when used in reference to respecting your elders can be equally off putting to hearer regardless of the gender and situation. We have all heard about respecting our elders by not talking back and opening doors for them or giving up a seat on the bus for an elderly person and so on. God wants us to submit to those who are older than us, especially as a young person because we have not yet gained the experience or knowledge that those older than us. We can avoid having to go through the trials that were originally laid in our path in the future had we chosen not to listen to someone who was placed in our path or in our families to help us heed the warning or lesson to avoid it.

We can’t be proud and think that we know it all when we know for a fact that if we placed in a specific situation we would not know what to do. We just run into more issues when we get caught up in pride and not submit to elders who we can learn from.

When we are humble and submit to those elders we receive grace and wisdom which thus makes our path clearer and removes pebbles that where once laying on our path that were meant to trip us up.