⁵ In the same way, I urge you who are younger: accept the authority of the elders. And everyone, clothe yourselves with humility toward each other. God stands against the proud, but he gives favor to the humble.

⁶ Therefore, humble yourselves under God’s power so that he may raise you up in the last day. (1 Peter 5:5-6, CEB)

Learning to live under authority is never easy. When you are younger and watch “elders” just goof things up, it’s easy to say, “I am to submit to that?” (Besides, when you are younger you just know everything.)

Submission isn’t about the elder always being right and the younger being without knowledge. It is learning to understand authority. When we understand authority in this life we will understand God’s authority over us. If we keep going around authority in this life, or ignoring authority in this life, we will not fully submit to the will of God in our lives. We think we will, but he will guide us into something we don’t agree with at some point in our lives. And we will argue and even ignore him.

Authority is a tough thing to understand, especially in an era where we pump into youth the thought that they truly can do “everything.”

It’s only when we get some years on us that we understand we sure don’t know a whole lot!