Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and temporary residents to abstain from fleshly desires that war against you. Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that in a case where they speak against you as those who do what is evil, they will, by observing your good works, glorify God on the day of visitation.     1 Peter 2:1-12 HCSB

As a child, my parents frequently told me to “Be good.” If they left me in the care of my grandparents or older sisters, they would say to me to be good. When they dropped me off at school in my early years, they would tell me to be good. If I went to a friend’s house, I was told to be good. I didn’t always succeed, but I tried my best.

Here Peter is telling Christians to be good. As Christians, we are held to a higher standard. Those around us are watching for various reasons. Some are watching because they may wonder how we maintain goodness in the face of our enemies or how we remain calm in upsetting situations.

Others watch in anticipation of us making a mistake. They are waiting to mark us as hypocrites. This is why our conduct is so important. We need to set a good example for others, and we need to avoid hypocrisy. Now, please don’t get this confused. I am not telling you we are put here to please man. We are to please God. We are also to be the best example of Christ we can be by imitating Him (Ephesians 5:1). And in doing so, hopefully we will lead others to Christ.

When we face trials and tribulations and the enemy comes against us, we are tempted to not do good. I said enemy (singular) because we know from Ephesians 6:12 that we battle not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, the authorities, the world powers of darkness, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.

When times are good, it’s easy to be good. When times are not so good, however, our flesh tells us to respond with hatred and vengeance. We are clearly told in Romans 12:19, however, that vengeance is God’s job. God will take care of those who come against us, we must be careful to not sin in our anger. We must forgive our enemies (Matthew 6:9), love them and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44).

Satisfying our fleshly desires leaves us like the rest of the world. It leaves us looking and behaving like those who don’t know God and don’t honor God. We must stand out. We must be set apart. We don’t do this because good works will get us into heaven. Jesus told us that He is the way, the truth and the life and the only way to get to the Father is through Him. When we accept Him as our Savior, however, we want to do good works. We want to be good to honor and glorify Him.

Evil people will come against us. They will speak against us. In the face of evil, we are called to conduct ourselves honorably. We are told to be good. When we do this, those who are watching will hopefully come to glorify God. They will come to want the inner peace and joy we have that can only be found in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Don’t worry about what those around you are doing. Even if they are coming against you or speaking ill of you. God’s got this. Give it all over to Him and allow Him to deal with it. Trust me, He will handle it.

Our Scripture passage speaks of glorifying God on the day of visitation. There will come a day when we will either face God’s grace or His judgment. I strive to be good because I need His grace. When we are good, we will hopefully lead others to Christ.

No good comes from being bad, so I urge you to be good.

Have a great day!