1 Peter 3:13-17
New Living Translation (NLT)
13 Now, who will want
to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you
suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or
be afraid of their threats. 15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of
your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to
explain it.16 But do this in a
gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against
you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you
belong to Christ. 17 Remember, it is better to suffer for doing
good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!
Last Sunday night I heard a pastor preach on Psalm 109. You need to read that scripture to understand
the context, but basically David was asking God to slay those who had done him
wrong. He gave all kinds of ways God could
avenge his accusers. He asked God to
curse them, and not bless them. I mean,
there’s quite a list of demands David made of God, and none of them were what
we would consider Christian responses. I
had spent Sunday afternoon studying this current blog passage in I Peter, so
what came to my mind while I listened to the contents of Psalm 109 was how
differently Peter wanted us to react in our times of attack, compared to
David’s reaction. I am so glad that in
the end it is God’s responsibility to take revenge, not ours. Paul tells us in Romans 12:19: Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the
righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I
will pay them back,” says the Lord.
So, then, how do we handle our responses, our reactions, our
attitude when we have been done wrong, when we are hurting and suffering? I believe Peter has laid out some good
guidelines for us when life just doesn’t seem fair. He starts out by saying that usually people
do not suffer for doing what is good.
But we know that isn’t always the case…bad things do happen to good people. Peter goes on to say that if one does suffer
for doing the right thing, then God is very aware of it, and He will bless the
one suffering. Peter believes that a
committed Christian should always be ready to represent his faith by treating
others with gentleness and respect…responding in love, not in anger or
frustration. In that way a believer’s
loving attitude will shine a clear light on the opponent’s bitterness, and make
him ashamed, perhaps even convicted to change the way he is acting. Peter wraps up this passage by reminding us
that it is always better to suffer for doing good than for doing wrong.
Chuck Swindoll says there are basically two perspectives from
which we can choose when life throws us a curve ball. First of all there is the natural response,
the Human Perspective. We are hurt, we
are angry, and we are going to get even.
This perspective will only lead to bitterness and hostility. We will end up a most miserable person. Watching out for number one and getting our
fair share never works in the end.
The second perspective from which we can choose is the
Divine Perspective, seeing the situation from God’s point of view. God is always watching over us and He knows
what’s going on in our lives. He listens
to our prayers, He sees our hearts.
Remember what Paul said in Romans 8:28:
And we know that God causes everything to
work together for the good of those who love God and are called according
to his purpose for them. God is a just God and He will work out all
things for our good, although it may not be in our own timetable. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:9)
Let’s look at some practical ways to apply the wisdom of
Peter when life is not fair:
- 3:14 - But even if you should suffer for what is right, you
are blessed. So don’t worry or be
afraid of their threats. We must endure patiently life’s
unfair treatments for we know that we will one day be rewarded for that
endurance. That gives us the
strength to have a positive attitude in the midst of trials. We are not to panic or have anxiety. God is on our side and if we trust Him,
we can keep calm and free from worry.
James 1:2 reminds us: Dear brothers
and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity
for great joy.
- 3:15 -
Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord
of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be
ready to explain it. We must be able to give
reasons for why we live as we do, why we are different from the natural
human conditions around us. We can
only respond as Christians if Christ is living in us. He must be in control of our lives. The good qualities we portray must come
from Him as we live surrendered to Him, as we live in obedience to Him
moment by moment. We need to be able to explain why we have peace, joy,
love, and hope. It is because Jesus
lives in us, and He is the One who makes the difference in our lives. We can look at Stephen from the New
Testament as a good example of someone who went through mistreatment by
his enemies, yet portrayed a person full of the grace and love of Jesus. He asked God to forgive those who were
stoning him to death, almost the same words of Jesus at the cross.
- 3:16 - But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your
conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed
when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. We must have a clear conscience to be effective
in our sharing Christ with others.
We do not have the option of living a double or secret life. Our consciences are cleared by the
forgiveness of Christ. We are forgiven, and they
can be also. We must treat others
as Christ would treat them, gently and respectfully. This is the opposite of being rude and
insensitive. We are not to act
better than them or talk down to them, but show them the same respect
Jesus has shown us. Our testimony
is the loudest and most convincing when we can portray the love of Jesus
in the midst of our own suffering. Living a life
of integrity is the most powerful defense we can give. When we live with integrity, the Holy Spirit can
use our lives to convict others of their shamefulness.
- 3:17 - Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong! We don’t know why, but sometimes it seems that it is God’s will for His children to go through suffering for doing what is right. If Jesus is Lord of my life, I will not give up or give in because I know He has not given up on me. If He can go to the cross for me, then what I am suffering doesn’t begin to compare. Job is a fine example of one who suffered injustice in his life as God allowed satan to test him. Because he patiently endured and did not give up on God, he is counted as blessed among the characters of the Old Testament, and he was rewarded double what he had before he lost everything he had. The Lord is always in control, and He does not leave us hopeless. That’s the truth we can hang on to tightly!
As Christians, we have a great opportunity in our world to
make a difference by returning good for evil instead of the norm of returning
evil for evil. Such action blesses
everyone. But sometimes, even when our
motive is love and we do good, we still suffer.
Jesus Christ is the greatest example of loving and doing good to others,
and being treated as a criminal by his society, a criminal who faced death on a
public cross. We are told in John 15:20: Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater
than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. (The words
of Jesus)
In my morning devotions I read that the purpose of
adversity, troubles and sorrow, is threefold.
First of all it equips us to help others. We gain compassion when we go through
adversity, and we are more able to reach out to others around us that are in
need. Secondly, adversity draws us
closer to God as we long for our heavenly home.
We know how much we need Him while we are on this earthly journey, and
He will not fail us. He is always there
for us. Finally, suffering is like the
heat of a kiln, refining us, making us more like Christ Jesus. If we allow it, love will rise out of our
suffering. God’s purpose for us is to
reach our world with the love of Jesus. The
question we should ask ourselves when we go through adversity is not “Why
me?” But, “Am I willing to suffer for
Him?”
Resources used:
Hope in Hurtful Times, A Study of I Peter, Charles R.
Swindoll, Insight for Living, 1990.
Ch 9: I Peter 3:13-17
– “When Life ‘Just Ain’t Fair”
The Communicator’s Commentary: James, 1, 2 Peter, Jude, Lloyd J.
Ogilvie, General Editor, Paul A. Cedar, Word Books, Publisher, 1984.
