August 30, 2012 1 Peter 2: 11-25 Living Godly Lives in a Pagan Society We are living in a corrupt world these days. Crimes blatantly committed...Women abused...Children raped...People die of hunger...Everyday, this is the news we hear over and over again. As disciples, being surrounded by negativities and evil makes it hard for us. Staying righteous in this corrupt/evil world is on top of our instinct.. How do we survive from all these? How can we let our light shine? We are at war! Spiritual War that is... With this in mind, Peter encouraged us to live good lives so that pagans/non-disciples/non-christians will see our good deeds and glorify God. (verse 12) In verse 15, “For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.” We are being reminded that doing good is what God expect from us. By living lives according to His will, people will be impacted by the example we set or by the righteous life we live. We are called to righteousness and to live a holy life. Our lives should be a reflection of our relationship with God. But our relationship is not always a “sweet”/”smooth” journey...For there are times where we will suffer...We will be afflicted...We will be challenged... We will be tested by fire...This will test our faith and our relationship with God. How do we respond when we suffer? or when we are given a tough situation? Christ suffered for me/for us. He received the punishment that was intended for us...Physically, Emotionally, Spiritually Jesus suffered..Amidst all these, Jesus was still focused on His goal. He surrendered to God’s will and not His.He committed no sin. NO deceit was found in his mouth. Even when people hurled insults at him, he did not retaliate; Jesus bore our sins so that we may die to sins and live by righteousness; by Jesus’ wounds we have been healed. JESUS lived a good/righteous life. Jesus knew what was about to happen today...People will be lovers of money, or sin and of themselves...Because of His LOVE and FAITHFULNESS He left us an example to follow. He became the standard on how we are to live our lives....FOLLOWING HIS... So that even if we live a corrupt/evil world, there is hope for us. JESUS overcame the WORLD.As disciples, so can WE. We suffer just as Christ suffered. Therefore, let us be joyful and be grateful that we suffer for in this we are trained and honed in becoming more and more like Jesus. Remember that God is pleased if we do good. He is delighted when we are obedient and when we do his will...He commends us when we endure...“But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable to God” (verse 20) So what’s stopping us now in doing good? or in doing the right thing? NOTHING should.
Posted on: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 11:42:37 +0000
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