Be A Living Witness Series

8 Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. 9Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. 11 He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

Exegesis: In verse eight Peter sums up everything he’s been stating all throughout this passage: “live in harmony with one another” (family and relationships), “be sympathetic, love as brothers, and be compassionate and humble.” This portion of God’s Word is wrapping up the thought which Peter has been conveying regarding submission. He started by addressing the whole Body of Christ in verse 13 when he told every one of them to submit to governing authorities for the Lord’s sake. He then moved on to address slaves, then wives, husbands and now finally back to the entire Body. And what he’s encouraging these saints to do are to consider how they live their lives. This is was what Peter wanted them to understand, because it is how the inward man of Christ is able to affect his world as people see the love of Christ in their lives. Peter’s primary concern has been with our ethical conduct amongst unbelievers and in the face of persecution: Believers to the government, slaves to unbelieving masters, and wives to unbelieving husbands. In this passage, he encourages us to cling to one another as our community in the face of a hostile world. The rest of the paragraph describes how we are to accomplish this. The worldly system functions on the premise that eye for and eye, and insult for and insult. Jesus of course clear that issue up and Peter is re-enforcing what Christ taught. Vengeance and bitterness was the driving force within the cultural norms, but Peter calls the believer to relinquish control for vengeance into the hands of God. In order to be a witness to the unbelieving Peter instructs his audience to respond with blessings instead of reacting with bad behavior, thus, by doing so, they will in turn be blessed. We have been called to inherit a blessing. If we are to live consistently with our calling, then we should be characterized by the fact that we bless others. This is referring to insolent talk or abusive speech. These are words intended to harm another’s character or feelings. This injunction has everything to do with what we say, which, according to Jesus, issue forth from our heart. Peter sees our response to pressures not as aggressive retaliation, but with active grace. Harmony: Family structure, relationships, this is not a superficial harmony in which we are merely trying to avoid conflict. We are one-minded about loving each other and seeking the good of one another. We are one-minded about honoring and serving our Lord together. That one-mindedness makes us put aside our superficial differences and focus on what really matters to God. Sympathetic: Sympathetic comes from this Greek word, “sumpathais”. It means to share feelings with another. It often refers to sympathizing with those who are suffering. This is a compound word made up from the root word “suffer” and the prefix “with.” The word originally meant “to suffer with.” Although the term is more generally, that is referring to sensitivity to where others are in their experience; we are to identify or empathize with others, whether in their sorrow or their joy. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (John 13:34, 35).” There is little doubt that this is the same kind of love Peter is referring to here, since he most likely was there when Jesus said this. Compassionate: To show compassion is to act. It may be to provide a shoulder for support or tears; it may be to help with provisions or to help with a task. It is lending aid out of real concern for the other in need. Humble: Biblical humility is not thinking less of yourself but it is thinking less about yourself and more about the needs of others, is what Peter seems to me be emphasizing here. This too is authentics Christianity to an anti-Christian society. The vitally important quality of humility is the recognition of our weaknesses and limitations. It recognizes strengths too, but it knows these have come from God (1 Peter 4:10; 1 Corinthians 4:7; Romans 12:3). Humility is closely related to submission, and it is essential for true Christian unity (see Philippians 2:1-8). Humility is not just required of those who are younger (1 Peter 5:5), but of all (1 Peter 3:8). Our Lord Himself was characterized by humility (Matthew 11:29).