Live Together in Harmony

The Sovereignty of God
The Sovereignty of God

The Peaceful Kingdom

1 Peter 3:8-18  The Message

Suffering for Doing Good

^8-12 Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.

Whoever wants to embrace life
    and see the day fill up with good,
Here’s what you do:
    Say nothing evil or hurtful;
Snub evil and cultivate good;
    run after peace for all you’re worth.
God looks on all this with approval,
    listening and responding well to what he’s asked;
But he turns his back
    on those who do evil things.

^13-18 If with heart and soul you’re doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you’re still better off. Don’t give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath. It’s better to suffer for doing good, if that’s what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That’s what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God.

For Reflection

Because you are a God-listener, do good.  In spite of what others may think, your goodness will multiply.  If you do the right thing, the just thing, the compassionate thing, the forgiving thing, some will sling mud, some will applaud, some will be changed - transformed by your acts of righteousness. Christ asks us to sacrifice our selves for the greater good, the realization of the Kingdom of God.

Pray

that you will have the courage to sacrifice your self to live a life centered in God.  Pray for those who persecute you.  Pray to be compassionate.  Pray to be humble.  Pray to be a peacemaker.  Pray to be a God seeker.