1 Peter 3:7-9 - Who is my Beloved?

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:7-9

Summary: Husbands, show consideration for your wives, they too are heirs of life. Be united in spirit. Don't repay evil with evil.

Thoughts: I think today I will just skip over the fact that this writer calls women the weaker sex. I'm going to tell myself that this refers to our physical strength, which is usually less than the strenght of a man! Instead I want to focus on verse 8. "Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind."  If we really loved one another, even those people that we don't like, it would be alot harder to treat other people badly. For when you love someone, you want to treat them well and you want them to be healthy and happy. What if we lived as if every person with whom we came in contact was a loved one? The clerk at the grocery store, the woman with two squirmy kids in worship, the obnoxious driver on the freeway, the homeless man on the street corner. How would our attitude change toward them if we regarded them as a loved one? Perhaps I should use this season of Lent to remind myself that every human is a loved one of God and thus should be a loved one of mine.

Prayer: God, you are a father and mother to us all. But that means that all of these human beings on this earth are my siblings. Some of them are easy to love, but some are not. Help me to see the image of God in each of them, loving them with a tender heart. Amen.

1 Peter 3:3-6 - A New Easter Dress?

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:3-6

Summary: Don't worry so much about dressing up on the outside, but instead focus on your inner self.

Thoughts: It's usually around this time of year that I begin to notice how old most of my clothes are. I start to yearn to buy new clothes or a new piece of jewelry. At the very least, I tell myself, I need a new dress for Easter!  But the truth is that what we wear on the outside only impresses other people, and only for a little while. Even the best dress will get old and fall out of style. Instead this writer encourages us to "let your adornment be the inner self with the lasting beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God's sight." It is so easy in the world in which we live, to allow ourselves to focus on external things. We all want to have pretty things around us and have nice things to wear. But what is precious to God is my inner self. That gentle spirit that can lift up others. I'm hoping this Lenten season to focus on my inner spirit, through Bible study and prayer, letting go of my desire for pretty things. I don't think that God will be impressed by a new Easter dress.  Instead I want to focus on what is precious to God, my inner self.

Prayer: God, you have already given me so many pretty things, including the budding trees and the little birds who populate them. Let that satisfy my desire for beauty, so that I can spend my time focusing on my spirit as I become closer to you, Oh God. Amen.

1 Peter 2:13-17 - Accept the authority of the emperor?

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:13-17

Summary: Accept the authority of human institutions. Live as free people. Honor everyone and fear God.

Thoughts: It's Ash Wednesday.  The day we go to church, have ashes put on our foreheads in the shape of a cross, and try to think of something to give up for Lent. So on this Ash Wednesday, I find myself thinking about what I should give up.  I think of the young person who gave up Facebook last year for Lent and her testimony about how it served to show her how much time she spent on-line. Although I am tempted to do the same, instead I feel God calling me to be more intentional about getting into the Word. And so, I am going to attempt to blog each day of Lent, in order to remind myself to spend more time with Scripture.

But about today's scripture, I find myself returning to these words: "As servants of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil. Honor everyone." God wants us to be free. But we need to live within the laws of our system of government. Don't use your Christianity as an excuse to break the law, saying that you serve God, not the government elected by mere people. However, what the writer doesn't say, is that if the law goes against God's law, then we need to fight against it. Just as the people in Libya are fighting against those in power in their country. That's what I hear when the writer says "Honor everyone." As Christians we must find a way to live within a system that is not Christian. Sometimes that means that we should accept the authority of the emperor, but sometimes that means that we should stand up against those in power in order to be in solidarity with the oppressed. Because we serve a God of love, not a power hungry God.

Prayer: Lord give me the strength to stand up against any system which does not treat people equally and help me to do what I can to support people around the world who are doing the same. Amen.