Minister’s Message: How to be humble

Published 1:30 am Friday, May 15, 2026

Fishing season is nearly upon us. With it comes early mornings and busy streets and long lines at the Freddy’s. It is all worth it, though, to once more stand on the banks of the Kenai with the cool water wrapped around our waists. It is worth it because we have been waiting to cast our lines out into the river in hopes that they will not return to us the same. This is a good season.

I cannot help but think about this season and that particular sensation whenever I read 1 Peter 5:6-7, which says, “humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time [God] may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

Heaven knows our world could do with a bit more humility, but how exactly does humility work? Have you ever tried to “be humble?” My attempts at doing so find me mostly in my mind. I try to think about others more or think about myself less or resist the voice in my head that insists I am better or smarter or more right than everyone else. God help me.

Thankfully, Peter tells us to get out of our minds and learn a skill instead. Rather than thinking ourselves into humility, Peter teaches us how to practice it. We do it by casting our anxieties upon God. I admit I rarely associate humility with how I handle my anxiety, but I actually think Peter is onto something here.

Pride clenches and holds things close to the body — our identity, our fear, our concerns, our hopes — because at least with our iron grip around those things, we can live with some sense of certainty. However, pride’s opposite — humility — throws those same notions far away from the body into the hands of God, so that whatever comes back to us can only be said to be a gift.

After all, that is how casting works. Each time we toss our lines out into the river, we surrender any control of whether or not a fish comes back to us. The fish is always a gift. According to Peter, the same goes for our anxiety and our worry, our fear and our control: we cast it out to God, hopeful that he will provide what we need and humbled when he does, for we did not and we could not make it happen ourselves.

There is no shortage of anxiety in our world today. The onslaught of fear and worry could easily shape us into prideful people who look to our own ability to provide security, who attempt to wrestle our anxiety into submission or stuff it down through the sheer force of our own willpower. Peter teaches us a better way. He says we can acknowledge our profound neediness before God and place in his hands what is beyond our ability to influence. Each time we do, believe it or not, we are practicing humility.

Joshua Gorenflo is the minister at Kenai Fellowship, Mile 8.5 on the Kenai Spur Highway. Worship is 11 a.m. on Sundays. Streamed live at kenaifellowship.com.