HUMILITY OF MIND
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Opening Prayer
Father in Heaven, as I come into your presence, I ask you to forgive my sins and create a clean heart in me. Thank you for your mercy that not only pardons but also cleanses.
Read 1 PETER 3:8–22
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Suffering for Doing Good
8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 9 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. 10 For,
“Whoever would love life
and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
and their lips from deceitful speech.
11 They must turn from evil and do good;
they must seek peace and pursue it.
12 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.”
13 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” 15 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, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17 For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 19 After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— 20 to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
Reflect
At Christmas, we celebrate Jesus’ submission to being born among us, altogether confident in his loving Father’s care.
Small turns of phrase often reveal a great deal upon closer examination. Verse 8 prioritizes the unity of spirit (the quality of being ‘like-minded’), whereas humility is at the end of this list. Contrary to the hyper-individual culture of today, God cares about unity and a harmonious, open attitude toward others in the body of Christ. This is characterized more by sympathy and warm-heartedness than by conforming to a creed or doctrine. Such an attitude can only come from those who have undergone an inner transformation that allows them to see others as more important than themselves, an attitude Paul also emphasizes.1
This passage may appear to be a shopping list of what we must do, but it is deeper than that—and, in one sense, easier than that. Peter has already called us, first to be submissive to each other, next to see ourselves as loved by God, and then to see our daily, weekly, and monthly lives from the perspective of God’s purposes. God also sees our hearts (vv. 12, 15). Our behavior is based on our love of Christ, not on the immediate consequences of our actions or calculations.
This is the life of faith that mimics the attitude of Jesus when he walked this earth. Some parts of what Peter writes here are very difficult to comprehend, such as verses 19 and 20. Nevertheless, what Peter writes about Jesus ought to inspire us to keep walking, thinking, behaving, and praying as we run our earthly race.
Apply
Reflect on your own journey. How has your understanding of the Bible grown? What worked? What did not? How critical is prayer? Reading his Word? Obedience? Surrendering?
Closing prayer
Lord, help me to gladly follow where you lead me and to represent you in ways that show others who you are and draw them to you.
1 Phil 2:3.
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