1 Peter 2:1-12English Standard Version (ESV)
2 So put away all malice
and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants,
long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have
tasted that the Lord is good.
4 As you come to him, a
living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like
living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood,
to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in
Scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and
precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
7 So the honor is for you
who believe, but for those who do not believe,
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the
cornerstone,”[a]
8 and
“A stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offense.”
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were
destined to do.
9 But you are a chosen
race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that
you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into
his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a
people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now
you have received mercy.
11 Beloved, I urge you as
sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war
against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among
the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they
may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
I
find it very disturbing when I hear a non-Christian complain about a
Christian. You hear things like, “they
think they are so holy” or “they are so two-faced” or “they only care about
themselves, their race, or their religion”, you have heard it and the list goes
on and on. As I read this scripture
today I am once again reminded that my actions speak so much louder than my
words but when my words don’t speak kindness, gentleness, and self-control,
they trump even my actions. What are we
doing as Christians? Do we want to
grow? If so, we must be nourished
through His Word. We must drink it up so
that we may eat solid foods and be grown up in Christ. As we grow, we may find
that we are rejected by man, maybe those friends that you used to hang out with
no longer want to be around you or the boss that sees no point in having you
around, for no apparent reason. If you
have tasted the milk and found that it was good, then grow in Him don’t worry
about those who have caused you distress.
That is what the word is telling me.
That is how we become a part of the cornerstone of Christ. Someday everyone will know of His glory and
majesty but not everyone will join Him in the celebration. We can’t decide who is chosen and who is not
but this is what we can do, we can live as He would want us to live.
That
may mean different things to different people but what the word says is quite
clear, abstain from passions of the flesh, live honorably, produce good deeds,
and glorify God! Then, when people try
to talk bad about you they will find that they really can’t. We should live our lives, not with our nose
in the air, not with a chip on our shoulder, but with love and
forgiveness. We should go the extra mile
for our neighbor, our co-worker, our boss and we should not condemn lest we be condemned. As I begin my studies in the area of Social
Work, I am told over and over again to accept the client where they are. They may not be on the side of the Lord and
they may never be, that is not for me to determine but to help those who want
help by first listening sounds to me what we as Christian should be doing.
As
you seek Him find Him in the midst of your workplace, your school, your
community and let others see His light shine through you by your actions and
your words.
Seeking
Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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