“But keep the Lord Christ holy in your hearts. Always be ready to answer everyone who asks you to explain about the hope you have. 16 But answer them in a gentle way with respect. Keep your conscience clear. Then people will see the good way you live as followers of Christ, and those who say bad things about you will be ashamed of what they said.” 1 Peter 3:15-16
I hope God is smiling down on you. 🙂
A portion of today’s scripture reading is the exact two verses that I was assigned to read in Sunday school this past Sunday. As soon as I read them, I said, “These could be my life verses!”
One of my main goals in life is to exemplify Christ’s life by being kind and compassionate and to try my best to live the life God wants me to live. I pray that when others see me that they see a true child of God, someone who is full of hope and love, and is approachable when they want to know why I have the positive outlook on life that I desire to display.
When we were discussing verses 15 and 16 in class this past Sunday I mentioned that when it says, “always be ready to answer everyone who asks you to explain about the hope you have” that’s when many Christians feel like they are not prepared to “speak out” what they live. We often think that we have to have to right bible verse or have the perfect words to say when we talk to others about God. But really, all we need to do is just share how God has changed our life and made a difference in us. Keep it personal. Be real. Simply talk about your Best Friend (Christ). Allow your life to speak for itself.
One thing you can do is to pray for God to give you the opportunity to share His love today and to speak through you. He will show up! You will have the opportunity. It may not be to even say one word, or it may be to say a few. But whatever the circumstance is, if you’ve prayed it up and invited God to be part (or all of) the conversation, He will give you the words to say. Trust me!
Blessings to you!
November 27, “Walking in the Word”
Bonus:
To good and simple not to share.
Then, when I read further on down in today’s reading, I could totally relate to the verses because I have lived that life (bad and good) and been called a prude because of my walk with Christ. It doesn’t bother me. I want to live more like Christ than the world! 1 Peter 3:13-4:11
The Message (MSG)
13-18 If with heart and soul you’re doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you’re still better off. Don’t give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath. It’s better to suffer for doing good, if that’s what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That’s what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God.
19-22 He went and proclaimed God’s salvation to earlier generations who ended up in the prison of judgment because they wouldn’t listen. You know, even though God waited patiently all the days that Noah built his ship, only a few were saved then, eight to be exact—saved from the water by the water. The waters of baptism do that for you, not by washing away dirt from your skin but by presenting you through Jesus’ resurrection before God with a clear conscience. Jesus has the last word on everything and everyone, from angels to armies. He’s standing right alongside God, and what he says goes.
Learn to Think Like Him
4 1-2 Since Jesus went through everything you’re going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.
3-5 You’ve already put in your time in that God-ignorant way of life, partying night after night, a drunken and profligate life. Now it’s time to be done with it for good. Of course, your old friends don’t understand why you don’t join in with the old gang anymore. But you don’t have to give an account to them. They’re the ones who will be called on the carpet—and before God himself.
6 Listen to the Message. It was preached to those believers who are now dead, and yet even though they died (just as all people must), they will still get in on the life that God has given in Jesus.
7-11 Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!
