Tag: servants

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1 Peter

Living as servants of God (Part 4)

1 Peter

After addressing specific examples of how people should live as servants of God (slaves, wives, and husbands), Peter now addresses us all.

First he addresses how we are to relate to one another.

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. (1 Peter 3:8)

I can’t help but think of Jesus’ words at this point when he told his disciples,

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:34-35)

In 1 Peter 3:8, I think Peter is merely expanding on the words of Jesus.

Again, the context of this comes in part from chapter 2 verse 12, that we live such lives among the pagans that they can see our good deeds and glorify God. But this is difficult to do when we can’t even get along with one another.

He then returns to the topic of how we, as Christ’s servants, are to deal with suffering and persecution. And we are not to respond as the world often does, with bitterness and retaliation. Rather, we are to respond with blessing. (9)

Again, this echoes the words of Christ who told us,

Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. (Luke 6:28)

And Peter says that if we bless others, we ourselves will receive blessing from God.

Peter also tells us that in the face of evil, we are not to respond with evil. (1 Peter 3:9)

Rather, he quotes Psalm 34 and admonishes us to watch our tongues, to turn from evil, and to seek peace and pursue it.  (10-12)

That’s hard to do. It certainly was in Peter’s time. Nero literally lit up Christians as torches at his garden parties. Peter himself was crucified under Nero’s order.

But Peter says,

But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.”  (14)

And then he comes to the key verse of this passage.

But in your hearts, set apart Christ as Lord. (15)

Why should slaves put up with unjust treatment from their owners?

Why should wives submit to their husbands?

Why should husbands respect their wives?

Why should we love one another in the church?

Why should we turn from evil when persecuted and bless those who abuse us?

Because Jesus is Lord of our lives. At least, he should be.

And Peter charges us here to set him apart as Lord in our hearts. To remember that ultimately we are his servants. And that as his servants, we are to shine his light to the world.

But we can’t do that if we’re living for ourselves, putting our own personal desires and goals above his kingdom.

With that in mind, then, in the face of suffering and persecution, Peter tells us,

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, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. (15b-16)

Eventually, if we keep living as Christ’s servants, people will start to wonder why, even our persecutors, and then they will ask.

And when they do, it opens up the opportunity for us to bring them into God’s kingdom too. But that will never happen if we are living for ourselves.

That’s why Peter concludes by saying,

It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. (17)

Certainly none of us wants to suffer. But if we suffer not because we did evil, but because we have been living as servants of Christ, we will see God’s kingdom increase and God will reward us for it.

How about you? Who and what are you living for?

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1 Peter

Living as servants of God (Part 3)

Wedding rings

From the very beginning of this letter, we’ve seen that we were chosen by the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ.

In short, we were chosen not to live for ourselves, but for Jesus Christ.

And in this passage we see how this extends to the family and how we relate to each other in marriage.

Peter tells the wives,

In the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. (1 Peter 3:1-2)

That’s not a popular message among many women today.

Some try to completely tie this message to the culture of the day and say its not relevant for marriages today. And certainly, husbands in Peter’s day had far more authority in the home than we see today.

But throughout Paul’s letters as well in Ephesians and Colossians, you see this same message given to wives. There’s no getting around it.

But the main question again is why? Why submit to your husband? Because you are first and foremost a servant of Christ. And he has told you to do so.

More, by doing so, you become a light to your husband.

He sees not a woman that lives merely for herself, but one that lives for her Lord. One whose beauty is not simply in her jewelry, clothing, or hairstyle, but whose beauty is rooted in a transformed heart. A heart that reflects the Lord who saved her.

And when he sees that, not only will he become more attracted to you, he will often times become more attracted to your Lord as well. Isn’t that our job as servants and ambassadors of Christ?

Sometimes women fear they will be taken advantage of if they submit to their husbands. Unfortunately, some will be. But Peter encourages you to be like Sarah, and do what is right, submitting to your husband and not give way to fear. (6)

And God will honor you for that.

As I mentioned yesterday, this does not mean submitting to physical abuse. If that’s happening, get out of there. Protect yourself.

But through it all, maintain the attitude of Christ who, “when they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” (2:23)

Husbands, on the other hand, you too are servants of Christ. Your wife, however, is not your servant. She is Christ’s. And in Christ, she is a sister and fellow heir. So Peter says,

Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. (7)

Your wife may be physically weaker than you; she may, by your estimation, be more emotionally fragile.

But that does not give you any right to impose your will on her as a common bully would. You are to treat her with respect because Christ treats her with respect.

And as much as you have received the gracious gift of life, so has she. If you ever forget that, God will hold you accountable for it.

Peter says God will not even hear your prayers if you treat your wife wrongly.

In short, remember that in marriage, you and your spouse are both servants of Christ. And that should show in how you treat each other.

How do you treat your spouse?

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Galatians

Focusing on what God has given us to do

Galatians

It’s amazing, but on this day 20 years ago, I moved to Japan for the first time. Over these past 20 years, I can honestly say I have seen God work to touch the lives of people through me.

At the same time, I can’t help but wonder how much I have really accomplished. I can’t help but wonder if I couldn’t have done more. I don’t know.

It would be so easy to compare myself with others and what they’re doing and get discouraged. There are others that I can look at who probably have a lot more to show for their ministry than I do.

And it’s humbling.

So as I look at these verses and meditate on them, they really make me think.

Paul tells us,

If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. (Galatians 6:3)

If there is a humbling verse it’s this one. Because the truth is, none of us are really anything.

We’d like to think of ourselves as something, but the truth is, all we are are unworthy servants simply doing our duty. (Luke 17:10)

If we think we are more than that, we are only fooling ourselves. The only question we need to ask then is, “Am I doing my duty well?”

And so Paul says,

Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load. (Galatians 6:4-5)

In other words, because we are God’s servants, each with our own individual duties which he has assigned to us, it’s a waste of time to compare ourselves to others and what they’re doing. Instead, we simply need to focus on what God has given us to do.

And any pride that we have in the things we have done for him should not come from thinking how great we are, or how much better we are than others.

Rather any pride we feel should come from Jesus saying to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

So whenever we are tempted to compare ourselves to others, we should remember the words Jesus spoke to Peter when the latter asked about John and his destiny:

What is that to you? You must follow me. (John 21:22)

What are you focused on in your life?