1 Peter 3: 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 their threats; do not be frightened.”
Have you ever written something, and as soon as it is down on paper, or the screen you think….well that is not entirely true, I better clarify. This is what Peter is doing here. Who is going to hurt you if you try to do good? At face value, well… no one would hurt someone who is always trying to do good……unless doing that good causes someone to feel slighted, or shamed, or put upon. Have you ever seen a situation starting to get out of hand, so you jump in to try and “help out” maybe you point out that someone’s anger is only going to cause more problems, or maybe you see someone hurting and you try to bring comfort, or maybe the good you bring means that someone is going to have to do more, be more, or extend themselves beyond what they think is possible. Guess what? Those people are not going to be happy to see you, they will not want to hear what you have to say, and a lot of times they might lash out, and yes, they will hurt you. That is why Peter follows that statement up with even if you do get hurt, do not be frightened. In other words do good anyway. As Tom Petty sings “you can stand me up at the gates of hell and I won’t back down”. That is what it takes to be eager to do good. Unfortunately, it is easier to sing about it, than it is to do it. That is why we keep our mouths closed, we miss the opportunities in our life to help, because we are afraid that we might offend, we might be threatened, we might be hurt in return…..we must do good anyway.
I want to tell you about a fella I know. He was a pretty cool cat. Seldom if ever would you find him doing anything for himself. HE was always always always out doing good. He had a kind word when needed and a firm rebuke when warranted. He could be found helping out the old, and the sick. He took time out of his day to talk with and encourage the people that society forgot, or condemned. If anything could be said about him, it was that he always did good. He never feared the fall out, he just always did good……..you know what he got for his good works? They killed him. Yes they killed Him, and they did their best to try and forget Him. In setting His life course to only do good, to only do the will of His Father, He was spat upon, beaten, lied about, and hated…..but He did good anyway, and He gave salvation to a dying world in spite of all that was done to Him. His last moments, His last breath, was spent doing good.
Know this, when you do good, when you try to reach out, when you try to help, most of the time it will be a great experience. However you too, just like Christ, will feel the sting of the world when you try to do good sometimes. Do not fear the threats, do not be frightened. We should never fear those that can only kill the flesh……do good anyway.
God Bless,
Brian Thetford
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www.thenewcovenantchurch.com
www.theworkweekwithchrist.blogspot.com
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