INVESTING ON THE INSIDE
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Opening Prayer
As I meditate on your Word today, Lord, I ask you for fresh insights that will motivate me to serve you with greater passion.
Read 1 PETER 1:13–21
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Be Holy
13 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
Reflect
What is your chief motivation for holy living?
The deeper the foundations, the taller the building! Peter expects us to internalize what he has received from the Holy Spirit (vv. 1–12) so that we can take action and face the world’s complex challenges. Our internal worlds can be subtle. The roots of our behavior are often hard to comprehend, let alone change. This is why God’s expectations and his revealed nature can motivate deeper change that eventually transforms us completely. What we believe and trust as truth will be consistently reflected in our thoughts, motives, and actions—‘all your behavior’ (v. 15, NASB). Our behavior, however, needs examination—daily as individuals, and collectively when we receive communion.
If every aspect of my behavior were scrutinized, my actions might suggest that I did not actually believe in God as an impartial judge; however, the truth can change everything if—and only if—I accept God as both a loving Father and a holy Judge. The Father’s love was expressed and God’s judgment was issued when his Son shed his blood on the cross. Jesus’ sacrifice and payment for our sins encourage good behavior and drive us to live with purpose.
This is why Peter focuses in verses 18 and 19 on how Jesus’ blood transforms our conduct ‘during the time of your stay on earth’ (v. 17, NASB). This transformation is based on faith, enabling us to endure trials and overcome battles against sin. As Stephen Covey puts it, ‘Private victories precede public victories.’1 Being saved is not an escape from accountability but an invitation to a higher plane of living.
Apply
Invite the Holy Spirit to probe your inner world. Identify, confess, and reject false ways. Invite him to convert your weaknesses into his strengths.
Closing prayer
Thank you, Father, for your spread of the gospel throughout the world. I lift up to you those you have commissioned to go to the hard places, that they will cling faithfully to Christ and his message.
1 Stephen R Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (Simon and Schuster, 2020), 51.
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