Skip to main content

Are You Ready?

     Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?  But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. (I Peter 3:13-17)

The first issue of today’s passage requires that we think straight and keep our focus. Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? Not God. Not good people. Evil people might, but evil people are going to do evil things no matter how you behave. We’re not to be afraid of them. Instead, we’re to keep our focus on Jesus.

Suppose for a moment, that in addition to your enemies, there was a person who loved you, and who liked X about you. Would it really matter what the enemies said about X, if the one who lived you likes it? The key would be keeping your focus on the opinion of the one who loves you.

The second issue is one of reflection and attitude. We’re to have an answer ready for those enemies. How can we believe what we believe? How can we stand ourselves? How dare we say they are wrong? Answering, “I believe what I believe,” may shut down the discussion, but it doesn’t really answer the question. The same goes for feelings. If we are to give good reasons for what we believe, we need to reflect on those beliefs, to see what good reasons there are for believing them.

And as reflect on our beliefs and answer those who ask, we must answer in a way that makes the answer bigger than the way we communicate it. We are to communicate with gentleness and respect. No name-calling. No verbal abuse. We are to keep a clear conscience, meaning that we cannot tell lies to trick others into believing. No emotional manipulation or sleight of hand.

Are you prepared to have people say nasty things about you, and continue to say them even when they can’t prove? Ae you prepared to treat them well no matter how they treat you? Get ready.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more