1 PETER 2:19-20
For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.
TO PONDER
In the second half of the second chapter of Peter’s first letter he provides advice to Christians on how to live as children of our Heavenly Father. The above verses are advice to Christian slaves. As we read on Sunday about Joseph as a slave to Potiphar in Egypt, Roman slaves had no rights either and could be used and abused as their owner felt inclined. So, slaves had to work out how to best please their master, or least offend their master so as to minimise the abuse inflicted on them.
Once slaves became Christians, they now became full blown members of the Heavenly Family and thus now had divided loyalties. They still had no rights as Christians, since all the benefits of membership of the Heavenly Family were free gifts of grace to them. However, they were now valued and loved by their Heavenly Father and this would change how they saw their relationship to their earthly slave masters. Whereas, before, they treated their slave masters with indifference and possibly contempt, they were now seeking God’s will and purpose in how they treated their earthly masters.
Our verse for today specifically deals with the issue of a cruel slave master mistreating their slaves, even when the slaves had not done anything to deserve this mistreatment. And of course, this raises the issue of how we respond when we are the recipients of negative words and actions that we believe are unjustified.
You may have often heard quoted Romans 12:19, Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. But this is a case of selective quoting, because it leaves out verses 20 and 21: On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Not only is God wanting us to not retaliate, God doesn’t want to retaliate either. Together, with Him, He instead wants us to respond with loving acts so that those who hurt us get to see real sacrificial love in action, and so be attracted to accept God’s invitation for them too to be welcomed into the Heavenly Family. It’s not easy to respond like this in love, and to be truthful, we cannot do it with our will power. Only as we first surrender ourselves to our loving God can He work his strength and power in us to love others as Jesus loves us.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You that You don’t send us out into the world to live Your love to those we meet each day, but You go with us with Your Holy Spirit to be where You want us to be, say what You want us to say and do what You want us to do. Thank You for inviting us to work alongside You as You reach out with Your healing love to the people around us. Amen
Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping