Skip to main content

Summing Up

 

Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For,

“Whoever would love life
    and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
    and their lips from deceitful speech.
They must turn from evil and do good;
    they must seek peace and pursue it.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
    and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”[1] (I Peter 3:8-12)

 

          Let’s sum up. What is submission? It’s being like-minded instead of superior. It’s being sympathetic instead of judgmental. It’s loving one another, not hating. It’s being compassionate, not condemning. It’s being humble, not arrogant. It’s not repaying evil with evil but loving those who hate us. It’s not casting insults (ad hominems) but dealing with issues. It’s blessing when we feel like cursing. It’s being the sort of people we keep telling others they should be.

          In other words, submission, loving, being a good person, being a Christian, pleasing God, it all comes from doing what doesn’t come naturally to us. And, it’s doing what doesn’t come naturally to us in response to people who do to us what comes naturally to them.

          This can be done in some very simple ways to start. In the passage Peter quotes from the Psalms, it talks about keeping our tongues from evil and our lips from deceitful speech. This brings to mind the way I answered greetings that inquired about my well-being for years. I used to say things like, “I’m here,” or “I’m alive.” One day, possibly as the result of some positive mental attitude books I have read, it occurred to me that my answer really had nothing to do with my circumstances. I answered the same way out of habit, no matter how I felt. It cost me nothing to choose to develop another habit. I decided I couldn’t tell people, “I’m wonderful,” because that’s a judgment they have to make for themselves, but I could tell them, “I’m doing wonderfully.” And that’s my habitual response now. My second habitual response is, “I don’t know yet. I’ll tell you when I figure it out.”

      Pick a small change to make. It will only be the beginning, but it’s a beginning.


[1] Psalm 34:12-16

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
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

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