This Day in History: 0000-08-01

August 1 – 1 Peter 3:14-17 

But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong! 

Living in this dark world and maintaining our testimonies isn’t easy. In fact, I think we often get so caught up in just living, that we simply forget about it. We fail to remember how important it is. We’re just being, and we forget to live with intention. The thing is, we might just be the only hope someone has of ever knowing the Truth. How will they know if we don’t tell them, and how will we tell them if they don’t ask, and how will they ask, if they never see a reason to think there’s something different about us? 

Living with intention is intimidating. I know. We don’t always want to stand out. Chances are, if we do, we’ll be ridiculed. People will make fun of us. Some people might even decide they want nothing to do with us. And that can be hurtful. The Bible has promised, though, that God will reward our faithfulness. He’s asked us to live our lives as an act of worship to Him. He’s asked us to love people with abandon. (The way He does.) He’s asked us to cast all of our cares and worries on Him and allow Him to care for our needs. When we live like that, sisters, it’s going to draw attention, and we need to be ready with an answer when we’re asked why we have so much hope. We need to be able to explain why we’re able to love the unlovable, and to tell why we don’t seem consumed with the things of this world.  

Let’s be sure, though, that the answer we give points back to our Lord. Let’s not grow proud and begin to think our hope comes as a result of something good in us. The reason we give for our hope must be as full of love and compassion and faith in God as the lives we’re called to lead that will spur the question in the first place! So let’s start today! Let’s live lives worthy of our Savior!