Friday, November 25, 2005

Suffering for Doing Good




1 Peter 3:8-16

8. Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

9. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

10. For,
"Whoever would love life
and see good days
must keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from deceitful speech.

11. He must turn from evil and do good;
he must seek peace and pursue it.

12. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."[a]

13. Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?

14. But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed.
"Do not fear what they fear[b]; do not be frightened."[c]

15. But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

16. keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

Footnotes:

[a] 1 Peter 3:12 Psalm 34:12-16
[b] 1 Peter 3:14 Or not fear their threats
[c] 1 Peter 3:14 Isaiah 8:12


God Bless You & Yours-
Countess

4 comments:

Unknown said...

God never promised us that following Christ would be easy, or that every one would like who and what we are!Look at Paul for instance, he was placed in prison on several occasions simply for telling about Christ! But he continued to be a light to the world, spreading the truth of Christ's gospel.
We too are to be lights to the world, and we too are to let the world see Christ through us. If we think that persecuting followers of Christ is a thing of the past, we are living in a fantasy world! Christians in China must worship in secret, some times their leaders are imprisoned, and their property confiscated! You can not speak of Christ to people in Saudi Arabia! Many times if a Moslem converts to Christianity , their family will disown them and could legally kill them! Yet these people continue to be a light in the darkness of their country!
Even with all that, Christians are to be Kind, Love their enemy, do good to those that despitefully use us, and we are to continue to be a light on a hill shining brightly! We can not cover the light or deny it! In all things we are to acknowledge Christ, we are to continue spreading his word.
"There is no other name given to men where by they must be saved, and that name is Jesus Christ!

Unknown said...

Isaiah 53:2-4 (New International Version)


2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.

Countess Demetria said...

What you said is so true!
Jesus never said it would be easy,
he said it would be worth it!

Thank you for your enlightening comment Thomas! You have so much knowlege about the Bible. Thanks agian.

((HUGS))
Countess

Countess Demetria said...

For thos of you on BlogAzoo this is for you! Thanks for reading my blog!

Gazoo For You

Have A great day!
Countess