March 6, 2023: 1 Peter 2:12 - May Our Conduct Glorify God
“…having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.” - 1 Peter 2:12
Peter was speaking to Jewish believers in Christ in this epistle (letter) to them. They were being persecuted for their faith in Jesus, just as many Christians today are being persecuted, at an increasing rate. The “Gentiles” referred to in this Scripture verse were the non-Jewish people who were not believers in Christ, who were persecuting the Jewish believers. How many of us believers in Christ have been persecuted, mocked strictly for our faith in Jesus, and how many of us wanted to lash out at the ones persecuting us? I am guessing many of us have felt that way, but that is not what God wants us to do. Whether we are being persecuted for our faith or just living our lives in this world that is our temporary home, we should live a life that is pleasing and honorable to God.
So, how do we do that? We use Jesus as our model. When He was crucified on that cross, continuing to be mocked and scoffed after having been scourged and beaten beyond recognition, spat upon, and now with Roman soldiers at His feet, casting lots for His clothes, did He call them names, put curses upon them, and lash out at them? No. Instead, He said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34) What powerful words He spoke, in love, for the lost, for the unsaved, for those who didn’t know Him. I wonder if any of those who heard Him speak those words recognized that He was more than a man who hung dying on that cross, that He truly was the Son of God, sent to the world not to condemn it but to save it, for all who would believe in Him as Savior. How many would remember His words when they themselves were dying? How many of them would glorify God by turning to Him in their last moments on earth, before they entered their eternity? Perhaps none did, dying in their sins, but maybe, just maybe, some did.
If we truly believe in Him and all that He did for us, we will do our best to keep His commandments, remembering what He said to His disciples, “If you love me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15) If we live our lives six days a week as non-believers and on the seventh day proclaim that we are a believer in Jesus Christ, how in the world can we expect anyone to think that we take our faith in Him seriously? Isn’t there enough hypocrisy in our world today with world, national, state, and community leaders continually telling the populace to do one thing while they themselves do not do it, and then they do the things that they told us not to do? Our world today is saturated with hypocrisy. Why in the world would I do something or believe in something that they themselves do not believe? No, if we truly believe in something, we won’t be hypocritical about the thing in which we believe; our belief would be demonstrated by the things which we do. If Jesus tells us we should live a certain way, that we should stand out, be set apart, from the rest of the world and not try to mimic the world, then we should do it, to the best of our ability. Yes, I know that we can never be perfect and free from sin while we are still alive and breathing in this world, but we should sin less and less after turning to Jesus Christ and believing in Him as our Savior. Otherwise, those who do not believe in Him will look at us who do believe in Him as our Savior as hypocrites and would likely not turn to Him, and that is not glorifying God.
When I was a teenager growing up, I used to look at all the teen magazines and the beautiful, young models on the magazine covers. I wanted to be just like them, to smile like them, to have their same hairstyle, and to dress the way they do. I must admit that at that age, I wasn’t a believer in Jesus. I was following the world, and by following it, I wanted to mimic it. It wasn’t until my mid-40’s when I turned to Jesus and believed in Him as my Savior that I started to realize that my sin wasn’t honoring God. I was living a double life. I then took steps to stop doing the things that didn’t glorify Him, including stopping watching pornography with my husband. While I still struggle with sin today, I am aware of it and I have guilt in my heart when I do sin, just as the apostle Paul wrote about his own struggles with sin in Romans 7:13-25. I realize now that the Holy Spirit has been working on me since the day I got saved, and I thank God for that. Now, my mind no longer desires to mimic the world but to mimic Him, to be like Him. Please, let me be clear, that trying to be more like Him doesn’t save anyone; rather, it is only through having a change of mind and believing in Him as the only One who can save us from all of our sins, the One who shed His perfect and precious blood, that saves us.
As Paul wrote in the book of Romans, let us remember the God whom we serve, and may we do all that we can to glorify Him. To those who persecute and mock us, or even when they are just observing us, let us not return hate with hate but instead shine the true and pure love of Christ and perhaps one day, they too will have a change of mind, turn to Him and be saved, and glorify God.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:1-2)
“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” (Romans 13:11-14).
“For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13) ✝️