WHERE THE BLESSINGS START
1 Peter 3:8-13 NKJV
8 Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; 9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For
“He who would love life
And see good days,
Let him refrain his tongue from evil,
And his lips from speaking deceit.
11 Let him turn away from evil and do good;
Let him seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their prayers;
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
13 And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?
Peter is writing to the church and telling the believers how they are to treat one another. I believe it's easier to skip past these instructions because we don't find any personal benefit in them. These verses talk about how we treat others, but the "what's in it for me" is missing. Or is it?
The domino effect is the idea that one action causes a chain reaction. One action does not merely stand alone, it has downline results. If we look again at these verses for today, we can see the domino effect in regard to how we treat our brothers and sisters in Christ. How we treat each other leads to us being blessed. Or not.
Have the same mindset and have compassion for one another. Be tenderhearted and courteous. In the days we are living, this kind of treatment of each other in the church will stand as a direct contrast to current society.We are not seeing a great amount of compassion and courtesy in our society today.
Peter goes on to remind them to not respond to evil with evil. And not to respond to bad social media posts with bad social media posts. Well, not exactly, but being reviled is being spoken badly of. Instead, we are to respond with blessing. Notice Peter did not say to respond with how we feel. Our feelings are not a good leader. Following our feelings, we will definitely clap back at whoever barks at us. But the Scripture, written by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says bless back.
Because. And this is a big because. We are called to inherit a blessing. Our blessings are tied into how we handle people. Because, and Peter continues, if we love life and want to see good days, we have to do something with our words. We can't speak evil or lie and inherit the blessings we are called to inherit.
We are to turn away from evil and do good. If we look at this in context, Peter is saying the turning away from evil is our not speaking evil of others. And the doing good is blessing instead of getting back or getting even.
The next verse is powerful. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers. We know that God knows all and sees all. This verse suggests that our treatment of others directly affects our relationship with the Lord. His face is not going to be toward those who are doing evil. This does not say that He does not love those who do evil, for He is love. This does not say that those who do evil are not saved. But, doing evil short circuits the blessings that God has for us.
APPLICATION
This is what I mean when I say that we tend to skip these verses thinking we want to get to the part where the blessings are. How we get our prayers answered. How we see more of God in our lives. But this is where the blessings are. This is where we start.
Remember that Jesus gave us a new commandment that we love one another. This love is how the world will know that we are His disciples. (John 13:34-35) And Peter, who walked with Jesus and most likely had to grow in this area, recognized the importance of doing what Jesus said to do. So Peter, in our verses for today, is giving us insight into how to walk in this kind of love.
So don't ignore these instructions. This is where the blessings start!
PRAYER
Lord, show me how to better walk in the love You commanded. I will bless others because I am called to inherit a blessing.