1 Peter 3:8-12
New Living Translation (NLT)
8 Finally, all of
you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as
brothers and sisters.[a] Be
tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. 9 Don’t repay evil
for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay
them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will
bless you for it. 10 For the Scriptures say,
“If you want to enjoy life
and see many happy days,
keep your tongue from speaking evil
and your lips from telling lies.
11 Turn away from evil and do good.
Search for peace, and work to maintain it.
12 The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right,
and his ears are open to their prayers.
But the Lord turns his face
against those who do evil.”[b]
and see many happy days,
keep your tongue from speaking evil
and your lips from telling lies.
11 Turn away from evil and do good.
Search for peace, and work to maintain it.
12 The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right,
and his ears are open to their prayers.
But the Lord turns his face
against those who do evil.”[b]
My husband
had just left our house for the last time.
He was getting a divorce from me and had come to pick up the items he
wanted from our two year accumulation of married life. When the door shut behind him, I turned
around crumbled in turmoil, asking God if He was going to reject me also. After all, He hates divorce. I saw my Bible on the nearest table and went
to it to see if He had a Word for me. He
took me to Galatians 5:13 – For you have been called to live in freedom,
my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful
nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.
At that
time of my life I focused on God loving me enough to release me from an
unfaithful husband, and yet be sure that my new found freedom didn’t lead me
into a relationship that would displease Him.
It was several years later when I was seeking my life verse that I was
brought back to this Word from God. This
time He highlighted the last portion of the verse, the part about serving
others with love…His love. I had found
my life verse and my calling. It
basically boiled down to being set free to serve God by serving others. However, it was His love that set me free,
and His love that I needed within me to serve others.
You cannot
read the New Testament very much without coming across the concept of loving
others. Paul’s letter to the Philippians
gave these instructions:
Philippians 2:1-8 (NLT)
Have the
Attitude of Christ
Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any
comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts
tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing
wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with
one mind and purpose.
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble,
thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out
only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave]
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave]
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
When Peter
penned his first epistle to the believers in the first century, his purpose was
to offer hope and encouragement to those who were suffering from
persecution. He gave practical
applications as to how they were to live and get along with each other. The last passage, my previous blog on I Peter
3:1-7, he gave specific instructions on relationships between husbands and
wives. In verses 8-12 of this same
chapter he addresses all Christians on how to live in harmony with each other
in a world that has a bend toward evil.
Relationships between Christians should not look the same as worldly
relationships. We find the very words of
Jesus in the Gospel of John: By this
everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John
13:35)
It all comes back to love…the love
of Jesus. When we become believers in
Christ, we are adopted into the family of God as brothers and sisters of Jesus
Christ. There should be unity and
harmony with God and with each other.
The more we grow in the likeness of Jesus, the more His qualities become
our own. Peter has listed these
qualities almost as checkpoints in our Christian maturity. Let’s look at the verses more closely and
find the attributes Peter points out to us.
I Peter 3:8
Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize
with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be
tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude.
·
Unity – being of one mind, having a like
purpose, being one in the Spirit, finding the common grounds of our beliefs. “…so that
there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal
concern for each other. If one part suffers,
every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with
it.” (I Corinthians
12:25-26)
- Caring
about others – having compassion, being sympathetic, feeling what others
feel without having jealously or a sense of competition. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn
with those who mourn. Live in harmony
with one another. Do not be proud,
but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be
conceited. (Romans
12:15-16)
Therefore,
as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion,
kindness, humility, gentleness and
patience. (Colossians 3:12)
- Loving
each other as brothers and sisters - concerned with the needs and hurts of
others. There needs to be a sense
of safeness when we share our burdens with one another. Now about your love for one another we do not need
to write to you, for you
yourselves have been taught by God to love each
other. And in fact, you
do love all of God’s family throughout
- Kindhearted - empathetic and courteous to one another, thinking of others as better than ourselves. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32)
I Peter 3:9
Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults
when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what
God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it.
- Forgiveness - our human nature would cause us to respond in anger to those who mistreat us, wanting to get even and hurt them back. Peter reminds us that we have a different set of ethics as believers. We are to do good to those who wrong us, even to bless them. When we do, we are blessed by God in return. (See Ephesians 4:32 above)
I Peter 3:10
For the Scriptures say,
“If you want to enjoy life
and see many happy days,
keep your tongue from speaking evil
and your lips from telling lies.
and see many happy days,
keep your tongue from speaking evil
and your lips from telling lies.
- Controlled
Tongue – refraining from gossip and telling lies, being trustworthy with
confidential information. Instead,
speaking the truth in love, we will grow to
become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole
body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows) and builds
itself up in love, as each part
does its work. (Ephesians 4:15-16)
I Peter 3:11-12
Turn away from evil and do good.
Search for peace, and work to maintain it.
The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right,
and his ears are open to their prayers.
But the Lord turns his face
against those who do evil.
Search for peace, and work to maintain it.
The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right,
and his ears are open to their prayers.
But the Lord turns his face
against those who do evil.
·
Seeking Peace – keeping harmony in our
relationships with others. The more we
adopt the attitude of Christ and live as He lived, the more we exemplify Jesus
to others. That is what we are called to
do as His Bride, His Church, His Family, His Namesake. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what
is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on
you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but
leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will
repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If
your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty,
give him something to drink. In doing
this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:17-21)
(Peter quotes
from Psalm 34:12-16 in verses 10-12 of his letter.)
Even though
God had given me the mandate to serve others with love when he gave me my life
verse (Galatians 5:13), He did not immediately gift me with all the attributes
I would need to fulfill my calling. It’s
been a life-long journey. There was a
definite point in my journey where I surrendered my complete self to him…a
point of consecration where I recognized God wanted to sanctify me…set me apart
for His holy purpose. That still did not
perfect me. I had to make daily choices
that would either honor Him, or take my own way. I did not always honor Him, sad to say. But He never gave up on me, and through the
failures, I learn and grow.
I have obtained wisdom through the
years that I wish I would have had as a young mother and as a mid-lifer. Don’t we all wish we could turn the clock
back sometimes and redo things differently?
The key for me was to keep on my knees in prayer, surrendering my
weaknesses, and asking for more of God’s grace.
My heart’s desire was to please Him, to serve Him, to love others…but
sometimes Carol just got in the way. So
I would bring my messes to Him and ask Him to help me to be more like
Jesus. He has never failed me. Now when I read these check points that Peter
has given us, I see areas where I have made tremendous growth…I have come so
far. But there are still some areas in
which He is helping me to improve.
My passion and goal is to hear my Heavenly
Father say to me, “Welcome home, my child, come on in… we've been waiting for
you!” And I will know the journey I took
was worth it all…just to see His face!!
