1 Peter 3:8 – Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. 9 Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it. 10 For the Scriptures say,
“If you want to enjoy life
and see many happy days,
keep your tongue from speaking evil
and your lips from telling lies.
11 Turn away from evil and do good.
Search for peace, and work to maintain it.
12 The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right,
and his ears are open to their prayers.
But the Lord turns his face
against those who do evil.” (NLT)
Mark Twain once wrote: “It ain’t the parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.” To that, I say Amen! This passage from 1 Peter is certainly one of those passages that I understand! Perhaps, that is why passages such as this one are so challenging.
If we were to use these simple rules for our daily lives, how different would our days be? How differently might others think of us? What if we truly sympathized with others, loved others as a brother or sister, were tenderhearted and humble? What if we made it our aim to go around doing good for those who did evil to us? If Christians made this one passage their aim, how quickly would the world change?
This idea was nothing new to Peter, as he quotes from Psalm 34. The idea is not new, but the application of this passage can be something new in our lives. How radical a passage, yet how simple. I believe that the lives of many would change if we sought peace, lived humbly, and turned from doing evil.
Today, let us seek to live by this simple yet powerful passage!
Posted by Ramón Torres
Amen