By Rev. Dr. Brent Russett – Asbury Free Methodist
June 23rd, 2024 – 1 Peter 3:8-12
Most of use platitudes and phrases that become a habit. One of mine is “Have a great day.” When I am talking to someone in person, I seldom say, “Goodbye” or “so-long.” I say, “have a great day.” I say it the checkout person at the grocery store. I say it to the server as I leave a restaurant. I have said it so often that I hardly notice that I am saying it.
It is a good sentiment. It is a nice wish. It is something that I hope for myself. I want to have a good day. I have had enough of the other kind of days, and they are no fun.
Now, when I talk about a bad day – I am not talking about that kind of life altering bad days. The car accident that changes the rest of your life. The trauma that leaves a deep scar. The news that shakes you to your core. Those kinds of things are in a whole different category and need a different kind of response.
I am talking about the bad days where you drop your toast, and it lands jam side down- and that sets the mood for the rest of the day. I am talking about the kind of days where you get into a fender bender, or get some disappointing news, or you run into something that puts a weight on your soul.
You probably have never had these kinds of days, but I have days where I am just off. I am grumpy for no reason. I am not fully present. I am in a bad mood. Those days are no fun.
I have had my share of good days too. You know those kinds of days where you go about your activities with a song in your heart. It is the kind of day where the sun is shining on the inside. It is the kind of day where although you are very aware of the fact that we live in a fallen world, everything seems right with the world.
On these days, even though you slop your coffee on your freshly laundered shirt, it doesn’t throw you. On those kinds of days, even when something goes wrong, it doesn’t affect your soul negatively.
When you think about it, most good days and most bad days have more to do with your soul than your circumstances. Good days and bad days have more to do with what is going on inside you than what is happening around you.
I would like to have a lot more good days than bad days. Here is what I have learned over the years. Good days are cultivated. There are some things that you can do that make it much more likely that you are going to have a good day. Our scripture passage today tells us how to cultivate good days.
Come with me to
1 Peter 3:8–12 (NIV)
8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For,
“Whoever would love life
and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
and their lips from deceitful speech.
11 They must turn from evil and do good;
they must seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Did you catch verse 10. “Whoever would love life and see good days,” or as the NLT puts it, “If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days,” here is how you do it.
You will notice that part of the recipe he gives is behaviour oriented and the other part of the recipe is mindset, or heart- set oriented. How you treat other and how you view others and how you view yourself goes a long way towards you loving life and seeing good days.
Let’s start at the top – verse 8
Finally all of you
He is talking to followers of Jesus. It the passage before this he was talking about how to live with people who don’t follow Jesus. But he makes it clear that he is now talking to followers of Jesus, because the instructions he is going to give are going to be for followers of Jesus – like the first instruction.
Be like-minded.
Some translate this be harmonious. This does not mean that we are going to agree on everything. What it does mean is that we are going to agree on what is important. That is why he explains that he is talking to Christians. We may not agree on politics, but we agree on Jesus. We may not agree on the best way to do things, but we agree that our hope lies in God. We are like-minded on the important things.
Listen, if you are a person who goes around looking to correct everyone who disagrees with you; If you are a person who needs to get into an argument with everyone who has a different opinion than you about secondary issues; You are a person who is going to have a lot more bad days.
Be sympathetic
It means to feel for someone. It means to understand where they are coming from. This helps me a lot. I may not always agree with someone, but if I can understand where they are coming from it helps me accept them at a deeper level. I may not agree with them, but I feel for them. If I can put it this way – my feelings are on their side.
I don’t know if you noticed this – but people have a way of saying the stupidest things sometimes. I have said my fair share of stupid things. When people say stupid things, it can wreck your day. But stupid comments, if you can feel for where the person is coming from, won’t wreck your day. Sympathize with each other.
Love one another (as brothers and sisters)
The word for love here is brotherly/sisterly kind of love. Love each other as family. Love each other as a healthy family should. This one is always a tricky one, because if you grew up in an unhealthy family it may take a while to learn how a healthy family treats one another. I don’t have time to go into it other than to say it can be learned.
Be Compassionate
This is a difficult word to translate. Some translate it tenderhearted. Others translate it kind-hearted. In other words, feel for other people. Be quick to give people the benefit of the doubt. Seek to understand where they are coming from.
Be Humble
NLT translates it, keep a humble attitude. If a person has a humble attitude they are free from arrogance. They judge themselves properly. They have a good sense of who they are and what they are good at – but then they recognize that they are what they are by the grace of God. They neither try to downplay themselves nor do they portray themselves as better than they are.
You will notice that all these qualities in verse 8 are mindsets or heart orientations to other people. If you want to set yourself up to have a lot of good days then
1 Peter 3:8 (NIV)
… be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.
Then Peter talks about those people who seem to want to give you a bad day.
1 Peter 3:9 (NIV)
9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
The evil behaviour could also be translated by saying “harmful behaviour,” or morally objectionable behaviour.” Do not repay harmful behaviour with harmful behaviour.
1 Peter 3:9 (NLT)
9 Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you.
You get the idea. When someone does bad or says something bad about you, do not retaliate. This is the response of an emotionally mature person.
I think that for many of us, we learned to trade insults when we were teenagers. When we mature a little we learn to bite our tongue. We don’t have to trade insult for insult. But here is the response of a spiritually mature person.
1 Peter 3:9 (NIV)
9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing
We bless people when we state what is both true and good about a person. We bless people when we call out the best in them. We bless people when we ask God to do good to them. We bless people when give them gifts of words or deeds or meaningful things. When people do you harm or insult you, but instead of returning the favour, you bless them, look what happens.
1 Peter 3:9 (NIV)
9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
Peter is saying that if you bless those who are insulting you are going to receive a blessing yourself. What is the blessing that you re going to receive – You are going to have a lot more good days. Peter points to the promises of God. He says, this is what God has said in his word.
1 Peter 3:10–11 (NIV)
10 For,
“Whoever would love life
and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
and their lips from deceitful speech.
11 They must turn from evil and do good;
they must seek peace and pursue it.
Or as the NLT puts it
1 Peter 3:10–11 (NLT)
10 For the Scriptures say,
“If you want to enjoy life
and see many happy days,
keep your tongue from speaking evil
and your lips from telling lies.
11 Turn away from evil and do good.
Search for peace, and work to maintain it.
Peter is quoting Psalms 34:12-16. He is saying that I am saying what the Scripture has already said.
Psalm 34:12–16 (NIV)
12 Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
13 keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from telling lies.
14 Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
16 but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to blot out their name from the earth.
So, the question is, “Do you want to see many good days?”
Watch what you say. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace and work to maintain it.
The part about peace is the only thing that Peter did not address in the previous verses.
The Psalmist and Peter are saying that peace is something that has to be worked for and it has to be maintained.
We live in a world that is riddled with anxiety and laden with stress. I think that stress is highly underrated in our world. But Peter is saying, if you want to have a lot of good days then seek peace and pursue it. Search for peace and maintain it.
How do you do that? It starts with your heart. Peace is part of the fruit of the Spirit. It happens as the Spirit of God has his way in our life.
I find that there is more peace in my life as I consistently foster a relationship with God. When I intentionally worship and pray and listen for his voice in his Word and in my spirit, I tend to be more at peace. I find that when I intentionally offload the burdens, I am carrying onto God by praying about them and then placing them by faith in his hands, I am more at peace.
I find when I am doing the things I know to do that are right, and staying away from the things that I know to do that are wrong, I walk in peace. In fact, maintaining peace is a high motivator for me to do what is right. I want to live in peace.
I find that knowing oneself and living in harmony with how God has made you is important for finding peace. If there is a certain genre of movies that disturb you – don’t watch those kinds of movies. If watching the news disturbs you, then find other ways of getting the news. If social media disturbs you, then limit your use of it.
Just because your friends or your fellow Christians can do certain things, it doesn’t mean that you can do them. Know yourself and live in harmony with how God has made you.
****
Peace starts in the heart, but it is worked out in relationships. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.
The apostle Paul put it this way,
Romans 12:18 (NIV)
18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Do everything you can to live at peace with everyone. We live in a fallen world and so there will be times where you have done everything you can do but there still is no peace in a relationship. But before you get to that point, do everything that you can do to find peace.
Even if you can’t find peace in the relationship, choose to forgive, deeply, from the heart. There are few things that will rob you of peace quicker and more deeply than unforgiveness.
If you want to have a lot of good days, pursue peace and seek to maintain it.
Hear the promise of God.
1 Peter 3:12 (NIV)
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
God is responsive towards people who living in a way where they are going to have a lot of good days. So when those bad days come along, when the trouble happens, God is very attentive to your prayers. So, in good days or hard days – God is there.
How about you? Do you want to see a lot of good days? Then know this – God’s way is the best way. Choose to follow him. Hear the word of the Lord
1 Peter 3:8–12 (NIV)
8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For,
“Whoever would love life
and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
and their lips from deceitful speech.
11 They must turn from evil and do good;
they must seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”