Holding on to Hope: 1 Peter
Wednesday, May 26
Today’s reading: 1 Peter 4:8-11
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
I took a few minutes to reread the first few chapters of 1 Peter before writing this post. I wanted to remind myself of where we have been thus far concerning our theme of hope. Here are some things I picked up as Peter wrote to these believers in their scattered places due to persecution:
-we are born again to a living hope (1:3)
-we are born again, not of a perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God (1:23)
-we are living stones (2:5)
-Jesus bore our sins in his body on a tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds we have been healed. (2:24)
-For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit (3:18). His living Spirit has been poured into us.
The hope Peter gives in his letter is LIFE giving, one that puts away the things of the flesh, which is also theme reiterated time and again in his letter. In fact, he makes it very clear to these early Christians that they are to live a life that is marked by good deeds so that those around them (the ones that are making life hard for them) might wonder about the remarkable hope that they have.
In our passage today, Peter continues to say:
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly...
Show hospitality...
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another...
Why?...In order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.
Once again, we see the instruction of how to live differently than the world so that God is glorified through us. I think when we realize that life is about bringing glory to God through our obedience to his word, which is made possible by the power of his Spirit, then it becomes more clear why we get up in the morning. The Lord has simplified this for me recently by giving me a question that I now ask him each day as a prayer:
"God, who do you want me to love today?" Will I obey him so that he will be glorified? Is obeying him hard sometimes? Yes indeed; but the benefits are immense both for the recipient and for me.
Today, through the living Spirit inside of us, let's obey God's word. Who can you love in earnest? Who in your world is in need of some down home hospitality? How can you use your unique gift to touch someone with the love of Christ? Spend a few minutes in prayer and ask God to speak to you. He may bring a random person to mind, or he may whisper in your ear a person that is actually causing you strife. In this letter, Peter was often referring to the latter.
Remember, as it has been instructed throughout our chapters so far, first put away your fleshly emotions and even actions, then be filled with your hope in the resurrected Christ. His living and abiding Spirit will move you forward when you submit to his word, and, hallelujah, God will be glorified through you!
Dear Lord,
You are our living hope. Please fill us with the strength that you supply so that we can love people earnestly today. May we use our gifts to draw people to you, whether it's serving lunch to some neighbors, or speaking to the masses, or anything in between. May our heart's desire be to glorify you in every way with every one. Amen.
A reading of 1 Peter 4 by our dear Missy Gowen Washam:
https://youtu.be/bm7BqvzlAv8
