Verse: 1 Peter 4:14-16
14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.
Devotion
If you are insulted, you are blessed! If you suffer for doing good, praise God! This is the upside down Kingdom of God at work in our lives. These are not normal responses to being insulted or to suffering. But when it is for the Kingdom of God, everything changes.
But why? I sat here for a long time looking at this verse wondering, “why should we be blessed and praise God when our faith leads to pain?” Here are a few thoughts:
1) If we are being insulted, or suffering for doing good, we must be doing something right! If our faith is so bland and ineffective that we never bump up against culture in a way that produces friction, then we probably are trying harder to look like the culture than we are trying to look like Jesus. So in those times when we feel slighted or rejected or insulted by others because of our faith, we can actually take heart that something good is happening in our lives!
2) We can understand Jesus more. If someone ridicules our faith, we can identify with Jesus when he was ridiculed before he went to the cross. If we suffer a loss at work or at school because of our faith, we can identify with Jesus as he lost friends and followers. In suffering for the Gospel we understand Jesus in a new light, and in the end the most important thing is that we know him more.
3) We have a chance to respond in the opposite direction. Remember Jesus said that they will “see our good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven”? (Matthew 5:16) When we are made fun of, discounted, judged, or suffer for doing good, an opportunity opens up. We have this chance to respond in kind, by retaliating, or judging back, or making fun, or attacking in some way. Or, we can respond in the opposite direction, and answer insults with kind words, judgement with love, suffering with grace. We can respond in such a way that those who see it will take notice, and maybe, just maybe, see God through our actions.
I know that we don’t suffer anywhere near how others the world suffer for their faith, where people are actually persecuted, imprisoned, and killed. At the same time, the ways that our faith costs us are real, and in those moments we can find encouragement in these verses!
Prayer
Help me God to lean into you when I encounter suffering for my faith, and not to get discouraged or to retaliate in negative ways.
Author: Christian Dunn
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