Up to this point, Peter has laid out excellent guidance on being:
- Born again into Christ and a living hope;
- Called to be holy; and
- Living stones and holy people.
- Submission to authority;
- Behaviors of wives and husbands;
- And for today’s blog, suffering for righteousness’ sake:
I challenge all who read this, and all whom you come into contact with, to memorize these two verses. In America today, and potentially even more so yet to come, we are going through some hard times. And it makes us mad sometimes. Peter approaches, puts his arm around our shoulders, and takes us on a little walk to remind us who we are and what our weapons are and are not:
- Unity of mind;
- Sympathy;
- Tender heart;
- Humble mind;
- No payback for evil or reviling.
“’Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil’” (1 Pet 3:10-12; Psalm 34:12-16).
Take a little extra time today and read all of Psalm 34, but then focus on verses 12 to 16 in the context of Peter’s message. Psalm 34 relates how David interacted with a heathen ruler – Abimelech – and achieved good dealings with him instead of encountering persecution. Peter’s message fits all times and all rulers and all believers in Jesus as their true ruler:
- Avoid evil and deceitful talk;
- Turn away from evil and do good;
- Seek peace and pursue it.
The Lord watches over the righteous especially in persecution and he hears their prayers, meaning he acts on their behalf. But we double our misery if we respond to evil in disunity from God.
Hurry back for Part 2 and Peter’s coaching session on unity with God and personal behaviors of perfect unity!