Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account of the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. 1 Peter 3:13-16 NASB
If you are not saved, then Christianity may look weird to you. We trust in someone that we have never seen. We believe everything that is written in the bible. We have a peace about us that, well, in all honesty, just sometimes makes no sense whatsoever. So if you see us Christians, you may think we are nuts.
If you are a Christian, you may have someone confront you and ask you just what the heck is wrong with you when you don’t react to something as the world reacts. When you have that peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7), quite frankly, it tends to make non-believers a little suspicious of us. They may be so suspicious that they plot evil or harm against us because we are simply something that they don’t understand. As humans, we tend to fear what we don’t understand.
Romans 8:31 says, if God is for us who can be against us? Our scripture passage for today begins basically by asking that same question. But it goes on to say that we should consider ourselves blessed when we suffer for the sake of righteousness. Now the next statement which is in all caps, tells us not to be afraid of their intimidation and not to be troubled. I have been told that the phrases, “Do not fear” or “Do not be afraid” appear 365 times in the bible, one for every day of the year. God makes it very clear in His word that He does not want us, His children, to be afraid or experience fear. He wants us to know that He’s got this and He wants us to trust in Him. He then tells us to sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts. This means that we set Christ apart as our ruler. We set Christ apart as our savior and our redeemer. We know that He is Lord. He knows that when we do this and we don’t panic when the world says panic and get angry when the world says we should be angry, that some will think we are nuts. So, this is where He tells us to always be ready to give a defense for the hope that is in us.
God tells us that we must be ready to explain why we are not fearful and panicked. We must be ready to explain why we are not angry and bitter. We must be ready to explain why we are filled with hope in a world that seems hopeless. We must let the world know that we are hopeful because we know where we are headed. We know the glory that awaits us. We have trusted in Christ as our Savior and we know that we have been redeemed. We know that even though we don’t deserve it, God has prepared a place for us in heaven. We know that even though we could never earn or achieve it, we have begun the process of perfection and completion in Him. We have lots of reasons to be hopeful and we must be ready to share those with others when they look at us like we have three heads.
God then tells us how we should give this account. He tells us to do so with gentleness and reverence. Don’t beat them over the head with your bible, but gently explain to them the hope that you have found in Jesus Christ. With reverence for Him, describe to them what He has done in your life. This is your job.
Romans 12:19 tells us that vengeance belongs to the Lord. So, no matter how badly you want to shame the person that slanders you, know that God will take care of that. He will put to shame those that mock you and revile your good behavior. He will convict them and make them aware of their sins and they too will have the same opportunity that you were given to confess their sins, repent and be saved by Him. So you do your part as God instructed you and trust that He is faithful to do His part.
Have a great day!