13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.
SUFFERING WITH POISE
Peter asked, “Who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?” Certainly, this is true in most cases. Doing good to others does rarely inspires their desire for revenge, doesn’t it? Even Solomon said, “When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”[Prov 16:7]
But, Christian should not expect to be reciprocated with good always. He must be realistic. Christians may very well suffer for the sake of righteousness. Christians performing good deeds in the name of Jesus may, in fact, he’ll be harmed for that very reason. Yet, he must suffer with poise, not in fear and intimidation. Peter alluded here to Isaiah 8:12, a passage about fearing God rather than men.
However, in his heart, he must honor Christ the Lord as holy. Why? He has the hope, that is, a secure and abundant future with the Father in eternity.[1 Pet 1:3,4] He defends with gentleness and respect to anyone who asks why he has this hope. Neither are we to be vindictive, vengeful, or insulting to those who disagree nor are we harsh or dismissive. Even in the midst of our suffering, our hopefulness should be apparent.
The most important thing is to maintain a good conscience. That, those who slander, or revile our good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. This is an inner confidence that we have not done even the slightest hurtful thing in telling others about Christ. Secondly, those who wrongfully hurt us for our good behavior should feel shame about doing so. Without any cause to accuse us, they will become aware of their own wrongdoing in accusing us in the first place. This makes it obvious to others that we are being attacked for no good reason.
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