March 22, 2025

March 22   1 Peter 2

Peter often found himself in trouble and arrested, but it was not for being some sort of immoral guy.  The thing that he got in trouble for was speaking the truth about the resurrection of Jesus and inviting others into a relationship with Jesus.  We should be able to get along in society and not go against the leaders and authorities up to a point.  The point that we cannot listen to the leaders is when what they say is in conflict with what God says.
    Peter was able to have a powerful ministry because he lived a good life and people were attracted to what he had to say because of what type of man he was.  There are many people who look at our lives and will have their opinions. Some people will not turn to the LORD no matter what we say or do. Their hearts are so hard that they don't care for the truth.  They may even try to silence us or treat us poorly for what we believe.  You may never convince that person- but how we treat our enemies and the way we live our lives is also a witness to those who see what is happening around them.
   Most of our conflicts for our faith also will have witnesses.  They are evaluating how we respond, whether we stoop into the dirt and play nasty, or if we firmly stand in truth in love and respect.  When it comes to challenges to our faith we may not convince the challenger, but we may win over the audience who sees how we stand.