Our scripture this morning is 1 Peter 3:15-17.
Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!
Peter likely has a personal reason for his statement “if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.” It was Peter who three times failed to give an explanation of his faith, even denying he knew Jesus (John 18:15-17, 25-27). However, Peter was sorrowful and repentant, and Jesus forgave him (John 21:15-17).
At Pentecost and afterwards people were amazed that Peter, a simple fisherman, could speak so eloquently and intelligently about his faith. Of course, the disciples had received the Holy Spirit as their guide, but it was Peter who took the lead. While his words were persuasive, as author Mark Norton puts it “the personal story of how your life has changed is far more powerful than any theological argument you could make.”
This is the most important thing for us, not that we know the words and are able to debate skillfully, but that our lives have been changed from the inside out by our faith in Jesus. This leads us to the admonition to be “gentle and respectful” in our sharing. We want people to see what a good life we lead because we belong to Christ, not by any power of our own, and come to know Him for themselves.
Heavenly Father, we fell into sin and nothing but Your love could save us. You sent Your only son to be our Redeemer and show us how to bring Your love to the world. Bless us to go in Your name. Amen.
