Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. (1 Peter 3:8-9, part of our reading plan today)
John Piper, in a sermon, “Your Calling is to Bless Believers”
We can imagine saying, “But Peter that’s not the way I am. You’re asking me to be something I’m not.”
He would answer: if you are born again, if the Spirit of God really dwells in you, if you are the children of God by adoption, if Christ is now your treasure, and God is your hope, then the seed of all these traits is in you, and they will flourish if you go on trusting in God’s future grace.
Like I read this week in Isaiah 26:3–4,
Thou dost keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trust in thee. Trust in the Lord for ever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
In other words, go on trusting God for his future, endless, rock-like dependability to meet all your needs (physical, moral, spiritual); and the Spirit will be released in you to work these utterly unnatural and wonderful traits.
According to 1 Peter 1:3 the mark of the person who is born again by the mercy of God is a “living hope” in God—an ongoing, vital trust in the future grace of God—the everlasting Rock.
Knowing God through His Word ... Day by Day 