May 11, 2017 OUR WORLD CAN BE A BETTER PLACE
1 Peter 3:8-9: “To sum up, let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil, or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.”
In the first part of this chapter, Peter is giving instructions on how husbands and wives who are believers are to relate to each other, and starting in verse eight, he broadens his instructions to include all believers concerning how they are to relate to others. It is interesting that Peter did not tell us to ‘make’ these things happen, but to “let” these responses and attitudes be ours. When we are living out of the new creations that we are, by God’s doing, our lives will be in harmony with the instructions that Peter gives. Indeed, if and when we live according to these instructions, the world will be a better place because His kingdom has come to that part of our world. These instructions run contrary to human nature, but they are the natural responses of the new nature of the believer. For this reason, it is critically important that we live according to the new person that we are in Christ, and not according to our old ways. One of the instructions given deals with how to respond when we are insulted. Our response to an insult directed to us, is an acid test that reveals our heart; we can actually have the response of blessing the one that insults us instead of giving an insult in return. Wow! When these attitudes and responses describe our life, then we are living in such a way that our lives reflect what life is like in the kingdom of God. We have been redeemed, we have been made new, we have the Holy Spirit living in us, we have become members of God’s family, and not only are we able, but we have been called to live in harmony with the instructions on how we are to relate. Again, these attitudes and responses are not things we have to do in our own strength, but are a part of our new nature. However, we do have to make the choice to live out of our new nature, and not according to our old nature. Let us not be locked in to living out of our own strength, and let us not be guided by what is natural, but let us live the super-natural life that God has made possible through the Holy Spirit who resides in us. We may need to be reminded that God did not just ‘improve’ us or ‘refurbish’ us at salvation; He made us new creatures and gave us a new identity and made us a part of the kingdom of God and we are no longer of the world. In fact, 1 Peter 2:11 calls us aliens! “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lust, which wage war against the soul.” Let us choose this very moment to put on the new person that God has made us and let us being living expressions of these verses as we relate to others.
Ephesians 4:22-24: “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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