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Living Holy: 1 Peter 2 & 3

Taste of Goodness
Have you tasted that the Lord is good? In 1 Peter 2, right off the bat, Peter makes a side comment that is very interesting. He asks whether we’ve truly ever experienced that the Lord is good? His question makes the point that if we have, this should make us yearn for God and the life sustaining power that God offers. When we have a real yearning for God, we want to be brand new people living new lives that emulate God’s likeness. We should ask ourselves: Do we actually feel this yearning? If not, maybe we should first ask God to give us a true taste of his faithfulness and his love. Getting a real experience of God’s goodness can change our hearts and give us a yearning to be more like God.

Succeed in Your Deeds
In chapter 2, Peter is very concerned about Christians doing good deeds. To him, it’s not only about professing your faith in Jesus. As he’s talking to exiles, people living in places and in situations where they lack power and influence, Peter realizes that the biggest witness of their faith, would be their actions. Peter frees them to accept that the situation they are living in may not be ideal, may not be perfect, and may not even be holy. Nonetheless, he tells them that they could still be powerful in spreading the gospel by their actions being good and Christ-like. Peter's encouragement still applies to us today. In the troubled times we live in with civil unrest and a lack of trust and peace, people don't want to just hear us preach the good word - they want to see our actions "walking the walk". Our actions coupled with our words are powerful ways to witness about God's goodness.

A Beautiful Spirit
A “gentle and quiet spirit”- Peter says this is an “imperishable beauty” in a wife. I read this in 1 Peter 3 and thought of the multiple proverbs that describe the lack of peace as living with a quarrelsome wife. I can’t say that’s not true and I’m daily trying to teach this to myself. PEACE is the key here and a gift of the Holy Spirit, which allows a person to have a gentle and quiet spirit. When we have peace, there’s no fear in our hearts about what’s going on around us. Peace frees us from worrying about proving our self worth and frees us from the traps of comparison. Having peace frees us to love ourselves as God loves us and frees us to trust that our lives and our families are within God's total control. No fear. Having the traits of a gentle and quiet spirit produces a lasting impression and is beautiful to the people around us and to God. It was good to read this reminder and encouragement from Peter.

1 Peter 2 and 3 encourages us to practice holiness, by doing more than reading our Bibles and preaching about revering God. Just as Peter, himself, learned with Jesus - when Jesus taught Peter about practicing servant leadership - we also practice holiness through our actions towards others. Our acts that display the fruits of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) can be our biggest testimony. So let's practice living holy by being thoughtful and acting on what we know will show love to the people around us. Say that kind word; do that kind act; "turn the other cheek" and give that person the benefit of the doubt. Our actions will spread God's love and make us holy.
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