A great and glorious Monday morning to you, brother! Let us thank God for His grace as we begin another week!
Read 1 Peter 3:8 – 12.
In today’s rich reading, the apostle Peter provides each of us with a tremendous amount of Spirit-breathed wisdom and exhortation in just a few verses.
He begins by telling us to “be of one mind”. So, how is that even possible? We are all so different! We have widely varied backgrounds; upbringings; life experiences; capabilities; and even physical appearances. My brothers, we can only be of one mind if we embrace the words given by the Holy Spirit to Paul in 1 Cor 2:16 “For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”. It is Christ who brings us together – it is the mind of Christ that brings unity from diversity!
And then Peter provides us all with a list of practical actions that will help us walk together and “be of one mind”. We are to:
-have compassion for one another. That is, be empathetic towards each other; becoming aware of and respecting each other’s feelings and struggles and circumstances.
-love as brothers. Most obviously, the standard here being Jesus’ commandment for us to ‘love our neighbors as ourselves’.
-be tenderhearted. My friends, so many times, we have allowed unforgiveness and bitterness and worry to harden our hearts. We cannot allow our hearts to remain hard – a hard heart negatively impacts our relationship with the LORD and also everyone around us. Today, let us embrace our Good God’s promise from Ezekiel 36:26: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
-be courteous. In a world that seems to become more coarse each day, we all, as followers of Christ Jesus, can readily differentiate ourselves through simple acts of courtesy. Being kind, being thoughtful, being polite, esteeming others first – even these small acts render glory to Jesus and produce unity in His body!
Whew! And that is just verse 8 of today’s reading. We will continue considering the remainder of Peter’s exhortations tomorrow.
Father, I thank You for Your word. I ask that You help me to walk in unity with my brothers and sisters, so that Christ is glorified. I ask You, LORD, to pour Your Spirit into me; and give me a heart of flesh, a heart that is soft, a heart that can be used by You today, and forever. Amen!
