1 Peter 2:18 Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. 19 For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. 20 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. 21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22 "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." 23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Introduction: Benefits of Suffering
One of the most common mistakes Christians make is to think of suffering as their enemy. Their biggest goal is to find a way to reduce their suffering. Suffering is not our enemy. It is our friend. It is a gift from God, and the Bible explains exactly why. We always tend to say, “Why? Why is this happening?” – and so often the answer comes back, “We just don’t know – God is a mysterious God.” And in one sense that is true – we do not know why a particular trial happens to a particular person at a particular time. However when it comes to the question why God sends suffering our way in general, we do know the answer to that question. In fact, at least twenty-three answers that I have found in God’s Word. There are twenty-three different reasons in Scripture why we should rejoice when suffering comes. (And I won’t comment on each of these. If you would like to study them further, I have a paragraph of explanation for each of them in the document on TreasuringGod.com on the articles page titled “Benefits of Suffering.” )
1. Suffering accomplishes God’s perfect purposes in your life (Ro. 8:28, Deut. 32:4).
2. Suffering is God’s tool for the advance of the gospel (Phil. 1:12-14, 2 Tim. 1:8-12).
3. Suffering purifies sin out of your heart (Job 23:10, Ps. 119:67, Heb.5:8, Jas.1:2-3, Ro.5:3-4, 2 Cor.12:7, Heb.12:7, 11).
4. When you go through suffering it increases power from God in your life (2 Cor. 12:7-10).
5. Suffering exposes faith and unbelief so you find out what is really in your heart (Lk. 8:13, 1 Pt. 1:6-7, Jas. 1:2-3).
6. Suffering gives you the ability to glorify God through faith (1 Pt. 1:6-7, Job 1:20-22, 2:10).
7. Hardship increases your ability to experience various attributes of God (1 Pt. 4:13).
8. It increases your understanding of the goodness of the presence of God (Ps. 13:1).
9. It increases thirst for God’s presence (Ps. 63).
10. Suffering drives us to God, intensifies prayer (Lk. 22:44).
11. Suffering makes us long for heaven (2 Cor. 5:8).
12. It increases your hope for the Second Coming (Rev. 21:4).
13. It snaps you out of the fog of trivia (Ps. 102:4).
14. It teaches you to understand God’s Word (Ps. 119:71).
15. It teaches you the horror of sin (Ro. 8:19-22).
16. Suffering gives you the privilege of participation in the very sufferings of Christ (1 Pt. 4:12-13, Phil. 3:10, Acts 5:41, Phil. 1:29).
17. Suffering increases our reward (Lk. 6:22-23).
18. Suffering motivates us to change (Ps. 119:67, 71).
19. Suffering enables compassion (Heb. 2:18).
20. Suffering enables us to help others (2 Cor. 1:3-4).
21. Suffering increases our glory in heaven (2 Cor. 4:17).
22. Suffering enables sacrificial giving and deeper expressions of love (2 Cor. 1:6, 1 Jn. 4:9). Even if you are a poor person, you can always give a gift of great value by being willing to suffer for someone.
Those are twenty-two answers to the question “Why?” But in today’s text we see a twenty-third reason why suffering is our friend. And this one might be the most marvelous one of all, and yet it is probably the one we think about the least. Suffering is a great gift from God because it enables us to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.
1 Peter 2:20 …if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
That is the path our Master took, and we are His followers.
Philippians 3:10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.
The answer to WWJD? is WJDD – What would Jesus do? What Jesus did do. He suffered for righteousness sake. That was His path to glory, and that is our path to glory.
Matthew 10:22 All men will hate you because of me … 24 "A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 … If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household!
They mistreated Him; they will mistreat us. But we still follow in Jesus’ footsteps, and those footsteps lead us to God.
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
Following Jesus means walking right through the middle of suffering to arrive in the presence of God.
Endure Injustice Because It Is Commendable
Bear Up/Endure
We have been studying verse by verse through the book of 1 Peter, but the last three weeks we have had that study on hold. So if you can stretch your memory back a month you will remember that when you are mistreated – you are abused, treated unfairly, you receive injustice – any kind of suffering you endure that is not the direct consequence of some specific sin you committed, God’s Word calls you to bear up.
19 For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.
The Greek word translated bears up is hypophero. phero refers to carrying a load, and hypo means under. So the picture is you are under the load of this unfair suffering. Then when he repeats the idea in verse 20, Peter uses a slightly different word – twice. There it is translated endure. That word endure is hypomeno. Meno means to remain, and, again, hypo is under. So hypophero means to bear up under, and hypomeno means to remain under. You are under the load and pressure of this unfair, undeserved suffering, and what Peter is calling you to do is remain. Hang in there. Carry it.
When to Flee
Does that mean it is wrong to flee? Or to take action to protect yourself? Is Peter saying you must always just stay in that situation and let it happen? Or is there ever a point when it is the godly thing to do to flee?
I believe the answer to that is yes. There were some times in Jesus’ life when He fled or avoided those who were trying to kill Him (Mt.4:12, Jn.10:39, 40). David was right to flee from Saul when Saul was trying to kill him (Lk.6:3-4). Paul escaped his killers by being lowered from the city wall in a basket (Acts 9:25). Jesus instructed the disciples Matthew 10:23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. So it is not always the best thing to remain in a context where you are at risk.
So how do you decide when to protect yourself and when to just bear up under the suffering? Answer – do whatever is best for the kingdom of God. If enduring the suffering opens up opportunity for spiritual fruit, endure the suffering. If greater opportunity for ministry exists if you flee, then flee, because the purpose of freedom is ministry.
Freedom is for Ministry
1 Corinthians 7:21 Were you a slave when you were called? Don't let it trouble you--although if you can gain your freedom, do so.
23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.
So if you are a slave and you cannot do anything about it, don’t worry. That is OK – you are fine. However, if it is up to you, then go ahead and get your freedom. Do not enslave yourself if you don’t have to. Why? Why does he instruct us to gain or maintain our freedom when possible? The answer is in verse 23 – because you were bought with a price. Your life belongs to Christ. He purchased you, and you now exist to carry out His purposes – not other people’s purposes. Get your freedom if you can because being free removes hindrances to doing Christ’s work. He can call you to go somewhere, and you are free to go. He can call you to minister to someone in a particular time or place and you are free to do that. It gives you more flexibility in carrying out the work of the kingdom.
So the rule of thumb is this – if I am in an abusive relationship, what would be best for the kingdom of God, for me to stay or leave? That is the only thing that matters. The most important thing is not avoiding pain – it is doing the work of the kingdom. In Acts 21, when the Prophet warned Paul, “If you go to Jerusalem, you will be arrested and imprisoned” Paul’s response was, “So what? I’m ready to die for the name of the Lord Jesus,” and he went to Jerusalem. And sure enough, he was arrested and imprisoned. But in Acts 16, when he was beaten without a trial, Paul demanded his rights as a Roman citizen, including public exoneration. Why did he sometimes demand his rights and other times allow himself to be mistreated unjustly? It was all about the kingdom. Whatever was more beneficial for the work of the gospel, that is what Paul did. He was not concerned about guarding himself from pain; he just wanted to spread the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Don’t become slaves (codependence)
So how does that relate to abusive relationships? If you are in a dating relationship, or a workplace relationship where the abuse is hindering the fruitfulness of your ministry, and there is a godly way out, get out. If your boss is taking advantage of you so that you are working so many hours that you cannot fulfill your responsibilities to your family, or you cannot do the ministry at church you are called to do, and another job is available, take the other job. If you are in a dating relationship or friendship with someone and that relationship is demanding so much from you that it is choking out your ministry to family members or church – back away from that friendship.
“Isn’t that obvious? Of course someone’s going to get out of a situation like that.”
Not always. There are two things that tend to lock people into bad situations like that. One is fear. The world calls it codependency, but it is really nothing but worldly fear. A woman has a relationship with an abusive boyfriend, but she will not leave because she is afraid of life without him. God will not be enough for her, she has to have the boyfriend, so she just puts up with the abuse. And the result is she has no fruitful ministry in the kingdom.
Or the other motive she might have is a godly desire for him to be saved. “If I leave him, he will have no godly influence. He will not come to church anymore, and he’ll probably never come to Christ.” If that is the case – if he is only coming to church because of you, that means he is dead to God. He is not interested in God. And if that is the situation, then dragging him to church so that he can please you will probably do him more spiritual harm than good. It will just turn him into a hypocrite.
If after all this time with you he still does not have enough interest in God to come to church on his own, then obviously your influence is not accomplishing anything. So leave that relationship and pour your time and energy and influence into areas where it will be fruitful. There are thousands of people in this world who would be open to your influence. There are many, many people in the church who really need a friend like you, and who are hungry for God’s Word and hungry for any kind of godly influence. And if you poured your time into those people, they would eat it up and would flourish spiritually and would be drawn to God. But those people are being robbed of your influence because you are wasting it on someone who won’t even receive it. That is why Jesus said if someone does not receive your ministry, knock the dust off your feet and move on to someone who will – if possible.
But what if it is not possible? What if you are married to the person? Even in a marriage, if there is a real danger of serious physical injury or your life is in danger, I believe it is appropriate to follow David’s example and flee. David continued to honor Saul even as he was going against Saul’s wishes by running away.
But what if it is not that severe? It is emotional abuse, or verbal abuse that does not threaten your physical safety, it is not grounds for divorce biblically so you do not have the option of leaving, but it is just incredibly painful to live with? Or what if you cannot quit your job because you have not been able to find another job yet, so quitting would be unwise? Or what if the abusive situation is not hindering your ministry? You are still able to carry out your ministry – in fact, being in that environment gives you even more opportunity to share the gospel. Then what? What do you do if you either cannot get out, or if getting out would not really benefit the cause of the kingdom? What do you do then?
Boundaries
The world’s answer to that question is easy – they say, “Protect yourself from any kind of bad treatment period.” If you are being abused, the top priority is to set up boundaries to protect yourself. That belief is one of the cardinal doctrines in the culture we live in. So much so that if you write a “how to” book on how to set up boundaries to protect yourself from mistreatment, you can put it in Christian bookstores and sell four million copies. John Townsend and Henry Cloud did just that with the “Boundaries” books.
And the way they managed to disguise that as Christian was with a distortion of Proverbs 4:23. That verse says, Above all else, guard your heart. Protect your heart from sin or any influence that would pull you toward sin. But the Boundaries books take that verse and twist it to mean, “Protect yourself from being hurt. Guard your heart not from sin, but from pain.” Those books are a training manual on how to be selfish and controlling and disguise it as being Christian. If someone mistreats you, instead of reconciling, they say, just “limit togetherness” and keep your “emotional distance” for the sake of “binding evil” (p.36). In other words, teach them a lesson by giving them the cold shoulder. And be careful not to love too much (p.37). They say not only do you need to erect boundary fences, but those fences should be “barbed.” And they go on to give instructions on how to properly punish your husband if he misbehaves. If he yells at the kids or keeps coming home late, leave him (p.38).
In other words, look out for #1 because no one else will. And that makes perfect sense … if you are an atheist – if there is no God who has promised to protect you. But the Christian way of living is the opposite of that. Jesus did not say, “If someone strikes you on your right cheek, set up a boundary so it doesn’t happen again!” He did not say, “If someone takes your cloak, set up a boundary so he can’t take anything else from you.” The psalmists did not say, “Blessed is the man who sets up his own refuge.” That whole boundaries philosophy is as worldly and unbiblical as it gets – pure false teaching.
When There Is No Godly Way Out, Remain and Endure
So then back to our question. If you are in a situation where you can flee without violating any biblical principle, and fleeing will increase your fruitfulness in ministry – then flee. But what if there is no godly way out? Then what? If you cannot set up boundaries to protect yourself, what should you do? Peter’s answer: remain in that relationship and bear up under the suffering. Endure it. Maintain godliness and righteousness and integrity and love while bearing the pain of the unjust suffering.
It is more important that you maintain your witness than that you get what you have coming to you. It is more important that you respond the right way to injustice than that you get justice.
That is hard. It is hard enough when your good deeds just go unappreciated. You work your fingers to the bone and no one notices - not a word of thanks. That is hard enough to deal with. But this goes even further. Here it is not just that all your good work goes unnoticed, but they are actually punished. It is not just that no one says thank you – it is that you receive a beating for doing them.
Sometimes when we read about things like this in the Bible we tend to push it off into categories that do not really relate directly to us. You picture someone in a communist or Muslim country being thrown in prison for preaching the gospel or something. And we think, “Oh, this doesn’t really apply very much in my situation.” But suffering for doing good is something that happens to everyone who does good.
Examples
For example, have you ever humbled yourself in repentance, confessing a sin to someone, and they use your confession against you? That person is 95% in the wrong, but you admit, “Yes, I did respond in anger and raise my voice that one time” – and that person uses that as a confession that you were wrong and he was right in the whole conflict. Or he uses your confession against you when he wants to prove you wrong in the future. That is suffering for doing what is right.
Or how about a salesman who loses a sale or cannot compete with the other salesmen because he tells the truth? Or a housewife or someone with a real servant’s heart cleans up someone else’s mess, or serves in some unseen way, and others take advantage of you and uses you as a doormat? You work hard at your job and it makes you unpopular with coworkers. How about obeying God’s Word when it says to rebuke someone who is in sin – and that person is a more powerful, more influential, more popular person than you are, and so everyone turns against you? Any time following God’s Word results in hardship in your life – that is suffering for doing good. In fact, as we saw last week, any time you suffer at all while doing good – even if the suffering is not caused by the good your doing, all of this still applies.
No Self-Pity
When that happens, if we are conscious of God, we do not have to react with vengeance or retaliation – or even self-pity. Instead we can do what Jesus told us to do in Matthew 5:12 – rejoice and be glad.
Matthew 5:11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven
We do not need to fall into self-pity. Great is our reward in heaven – what is to pity? That is something to envy, not pity.
If we suffer for doing good, we are in a position to be envied, because God is especially pleased with us. That is what the word commendable in verses 19-20 means. We patiently endure and bear up under unjust suffering because doing so is especially pleasing to God. That word means we actually receive credit in God’s eyes when we respond in a godly way to unjust suffering.
That is very important to understand because there are some people who teach that nothing we do is commendable in God’s sight. They say that our favor in God’s sight is based on Christ, therefore God’s pleasure in us can never go up or down. The Father looks at us, sees Jesus, and therefore He is always infinitely pleased and so nothing can happen that causes Him to be less or more pleased with us. That is false. It is true that we are pleasing to God only because of Christ, but it is also true that just like your children can do some things that really please you and other things that grieve you – that is how it is with God. Peter is clear – responding in a godly way to unjust suffering is commendable – it counts as credit with God. It is possible to please or displease God.
2 Corinthians 5:9 we make it our goal to please him
You can please God, and one way to do so is to endure unjust suffering.
Don’t Be Suckered
And that is offered to us as a motive. God expects that to motivate us. He expects the possibility of Him being pleased with us to motivate us. If you have a choice between having suffering but having God pleased with you on the one hand, or escaping pain but losing God’s pleasure on the other – that should be a no-brainer. You can tell how much you love God by how much His being pleased or displeased with you matters to you.
And that as also a sign of how awake you are to reality. A couple weeks ago I bought a new soft top for my Jeep from a guy on Craigslist. I got it home and found out the frame was broken, missing some parts, and none of the zippers for the windows worked. So it was a total waste of $130. The guy ripped me off. We have all had that happen at one point or another – you get suckered or taken by some scam. And we all hate that – we hate being taken. But every time we forgo a kingdom opportunity to avoid suffering, that is the worst kind of being suckered. It is a total scam. When the devil cons you into forfeiting some kingdom opportunity just to avoid some pain – it is the biggest rip-off there is.
Endure Injustice Because It Is Christ-Like
So when you suffer injustice – unfair things happen to you, bad things happen to you just because you did the right thing – don’t freak out, don’t get angry, don’t get even, don’t get depressed, don’t sin, don’t set up boundaries to protect yourself – just rejoice and be glad because great is your reward! God is going to pile reward on you because suffering for doing good is commendable in His sight. Why? Why is it so commendable? Why is this so pleasing to God for you to suffer this way? It is pleasing to God because you are being like Jesus, and nothing is closer to our calling that imitating Jesus.
Called to Follow Jesus’ Example in Suffering
21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
Suffering is not a glitch
Think about that for a second. It is your calling.
20 … if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21 To this you were called
Really, Peter? These terrible, unjust, unfair, horrific things that are happening to me – that is my calling? It is not just happening because there are jerks out there? It is not just because it is a fallen world and people have free will? It is not just coincidence? It is not just a satanic attack? It is my calling? It is not just God permitting it and then making the best of it – but intentionally calling me into it?
This is so important to understand because so often when people are having a hard time they think, “What am I doing wrong?” And that is a good question to ask. We should always search our lives when hardship comes to see if it might be chastisement for some sin we have not dealt with. But if you do that and you find no unrepentant sin in your life, do not keep assuming there must be one because the suffering is ongoing. That is what Job’s friends assumed about Job and they were wrong to do that. If there is sin and you ask God to reveal it to you and you are willing to see it, you will be able to see it. So if you do that and you find nothing, then do not keep assuming the hardship is because of a sin. Peter says, “Your suffering shouldn’t be any shock – you were called to this.” You were called to a life of unjust suffering. The day you became a Christian, here is what happened: God said, “I want some volunteers to follow My Son in the path of suffering” and you raised your hand. You were called to this life and you responded to that call. You volunteered. This is exactly what you signed up for. It is nothing out of the ordinary.
1 Peter 4:12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.
If God called you to walk down a certain road, do not be surprised to find yourself on that road.
Abuse Need not Ruin Your Life
And one of the reasons why this is so important to understand is because the world will tell you that unjust suffering destroys you. It ruins you. It messes you up psychologically. It is not at all uncommon for someone to say, “Yes, it’s true that I’m not obeying what God’s Word says in some areas, but that’s only because I was abused in the past. I was molested or raped or beaten, and it messed me up so bad that I’m not even capable of doing what God’s Word says to do. I know the Bible says I’m not to withhold physical intimacy with my husband, but because of my past abuse, I just can’t do what the Bible calls me to do. I know my way of interacting in certain relationships is sinful, but it’s because of my past abuse.” People act as though if you were abused, then the commands of Scripture no longer apply to you. As if unfair, cruel, evil treatment at the hands of evil people is some unforeseen occurrence that removes you from the normal Christian life. And Peter says, “No, abuse is not some strange thing that means all bets are off. You were called to abuse.”
And I do not say that to diminish the massive, devastating destruction that comes into someone’s life when they have been assaulted in some horrible way. I am not trying to diminish that. I am just trying to point out that as massive as that suffering is, the grace of God is even more massive. No suffering is enough to derail God’s grace for your life. No suffering of any kind can ruin your life unless you respond in an ungodly way. Even if you were to suffer assaults and abuse equal to what Jesus suffered at the crucifixion – not even that would be enough to force you into sin or to mess you up spiritually if you look at it from a biblical perspective.
A beating you did not deserve - you were called to that. Someone telling lies about you to everyone - you were called to that. Being fired for someone else’s mistake - you were called to that. Someone else being rewarded for your work - you were called to that. Humbling yourself and telling the truth and then having it used against you in malicious ways - you were called to that.
You see, when Jesus said to each of the disciples, “Come, follow Me” – that has not changed. That is still what Jesus says when He calls someone. What He said to them He says to us. Jesus said, “Come, follow Me,” and then proceeded to walk right into the heart of unjust suffering. Following Jesus includes not only obedience, but also imitation.
He Suffered for You
So follow His example in enduring unjust suffering. And if you find yourself struggling with that, read verse 21 more carefully.
21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
Underline that phrase Christ suffered for you. Do you see the significance of that? Jesus did not just undergo unjust suffering as an example for me. He endured unjust suffering for my sake – in my place. And not only that, but I was the source of the injustice. It was my sin that created the need for Him to suffer.
The next time someone is causing you to suffer, remember Jesus’ example. And remember that in His example of enduring unjust suffering, the perpetrator was you. That is what makes Jesus’ example so powerful. He did not just endure unjust suffering; He endured it for my sake, in my place, and I was the one inflicting it. If that does not give me patience in the midst of my own, miniscule unjust suffering, then my eyes are blind to His example.
The theological liberals like to say that Jesus’ death on the cross was only an example. They are people who do not want to acknowledge that God actually has wrath toward sin, and so they say, “It wasn’t punishment for sin, it wasn’t punitive, it wasn’t substitutionary. Jesus didn’t die in our place to satisfy the justice of an angry God. God never gets angry or demands justice. He never inflicts punishment on anybody. Jesus’ death on the cross was only an example of someone having a good attitude while suffering.” If you ever hear that teaching, run, because that is not a small error. It is full-blown heresy. It is a false gospel that cannot save, because it rips the heart out of the true gospel.
But not only does it do that, but it also rips the heart out of the power of the example. Jesus’ example is so incredibly motivating because of the fact that Jesus not only suffered unjustly, but that He suffered unjustly for me and because of me. If I can remember that when I am being mistreated, how much greater will be my ability to follow in Jesus steps!
Conclusion: Big Motives for Small Matters
What is that pattern? Peter lays it out for us in verses 22-25. We will have to wait until next time to delve into the specifics of those rich and marvelous verses. But for now let me just read them to you. Here are the footsteps:
22 "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." 23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.
Do you realize what Peter is doing here? He is calling us to do nothing less than mimic the very work of redemption!
One thing you notice if you study the Bible very long is that God tends to give us Jupiter-sized motives for pebble-sized matters. Some nobody kid in the back of the classroom at some school somewhere is being made fun of because he is a Christian. Some low-level employee is being chewed out unfairly by a manager because that manager despises that person’s devotion to Christ. Some wife is being belittled by her husband’s facial expression. Everyday, pebble-sized occurrences – tiny little things that happens a million times a day all over the world, and the motive God gives us for responding the right way is nothing less than the greatest event that has ever occurred in the history of the universe – the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The cross is the great reality that regulates the tiniest details of our lives. Alexander Maclaren: “Men’s lives are made up of two or three big things and a multitude of little ones, and the greater rule the lesser.” That is really true. That is the way priorities work in real life. Priorities are not a simple matter of “This is #1, this is #2, this is 3…” Life is more complicated than that. Sometimes you have to put #2 on hold because it is time to do #5 or 7. In my life preaching is more important than vacationing, but recently I went on vacation instead of preaching. Priorities are not a matter of always picking the higher ones over the lower ones. The way priorities work in the complexity of our lives is by having the big, giant things regulate the little things. Because when you do that, you transform the little things into big things. For some people the really big things that order and arrange and govern everything else might be getting money, or physical fitness, or marriage, or career. If the big thing in someone’s life is getting rich, and that drives him to live in a way so that the little things (like when he wakes up in the morning, how he dresses, where he lives) – those little things are done in such a way as to increase his wealth, then they are no longer little things. They are contributing to his overall agenda, so they are now big things.
For the Christian, the big thing is the cross. And every time I take some little area of trivia in my life and let the cross regulate how I behave in that area, that trivial thing becomes a big, important thing that is full of meaning and importance. Even the smallest detail of life can be elevated to a place of grand significance if it is governed by commitment to following in His steps.
That is why 1 Corinthians 10:31 says whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Are you being mistreated? Bear up under that suffering in a patient, humble, trusting, godly way. Do it because it is commendable before God. Do it because it is your calling. And do it because those are the blessed footsteps of our Savior, and by following those steps you can be like Him, and know the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, and become like Him in His death.
Benediction: 2 Thessalonians 3:4-5 We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance.
1:25 Questions
1. Is there some injustice you have suffered in the past that you have not had a good response to? If so, what would be the biblical way to think about that suffering now?
2. What kind of injustice or suffering for doing good are you most likely to experience in the weeks or months to come if you do what is right? Describe the response you believe would be most Christ-like.
3. If you are currently in an abusive or unjust situation, is it one you could free yourself from? If so would you be more likely to have fruitful ministry in the kingdom if you freed yourself, or if you stayed?
