In 1Peter 2:13-17,
Peter exhorts us to submit to authorities and institutions, both civil (kings and governors) and societal (supervisors and employers); he then gives attention

(cf. 1Peter 3:1-7)
to the institution of marriage. Here he instructs believing husbands and believing wives to live with their unbelieving spouses in such a manner, so as to influence them for Christ, that they might be saved.

In 1Peter 3:8, Peter sums up how we are to live and behave with others, instructing us to be: harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit. God’s Word cites the attitudes we are to have and to display through our lives, as members of the Body of Christ, the Family of Believers.

To be harmonious means to be ‘like-minded,’ of ‘one-mind,’ i.e., having the same commitment to the Truth of God

(Ephesians 4:1-6),
“Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all,”

(Philippians 1:27),
“Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ… …standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.”

To be sympathetic means to ‘share the same feeling’ that someone else is experiencing, whether it be sorrow or joy. We are to show empathy by coming alongside those who have spiritual, physical, and emotional needs; in order to help them on God’s behalf, sharing God’s message of love, hope, and peace with them

(2Corinthians 1:3-4),
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

To be brotherly speaks of the loving affection expressed among those who are closely related, the sacrificial serving of one another, as should be displayed among those who are in the Family of God

(Ephesians 4:32),
“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you,” as we reach out to the unbelieving world around us.

To be kindhearted is to deeply feel the pain of others, and to express tenderhearted compassion toward lost sinners, just as God has already done toward us through Christ

(Romans 5:8),
“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

In John 11:35,

Jesus is approaching the grave of Lazarus, and He is aware of the pain that Mary and Martha and the rest of Lazarus’s family are feeling, it says, “Jesus wept.” Jesus’s tears are the result of a very deep sense of compassion for those who loved Lazarus and were grieving his loss.

To be humble in spirit is to be ‘humble-minded’; this should be the most important virtue in the life of those who are genuinely seeking to follow the example of Jesus Christ

(Mark 10:45),
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many,”

(Philippians 2:3-11),
“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

In 1Peter 3:9 a,
we are instructed “not to return evil for evil or insult for insult.”

Please turn to Matthew 5:39…
Jesus said, “I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.” This is one of those verses that is misinterpreted much more than it is correctly interpreted. This verse is not inferring or even implying, that you should allow some evil person to attack to you, or those with you. This verse does not mean that you are to give in to evil people.

God’s Word records that very early in Jesus’ ministry, during Passover, He drove evil men out of the Temple (cf. John 2:13-16) using a whip that He had made, saying “stop making My Father’s house a place of business”; and again, near the end of His ministry, during Passover (cf. Matthew 21:10-13), Jesus drove out those who were buying and selling in the temple, overturning the tables of the money changers, saying “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ den.”

We are not to be pacifists when it comes to evil

(Romans 12:9),
“Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.”

As Christians (cf. Ephesians 5:6-13) we are children of Light and we are to expose and rebuke the deeds of darkness done by those who reject Christ; even so, we are not to seek retaliation

(Romans 12:21),
"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

But, what about being slapped in the face (cf. Matthew 5:39)? In the Jewish culture, as in ours, being slapped in the face is an act of contempt or disdain; even a slave during Bible times would have preferred to be whipped on the back rather than slapped in the face by his master.

I do not believe God’s Word is advocating that we allow evil men to beat us up, I do believe however, that Matthew 5:39 is talking about putting up with insults and humiliation, not physical attacks.

Most Jews are right handed (about 90%) along with most of the people on this planet; and so, to strike the right cheek of a person's face, with your right hand, is to hit with the back of the hand, this is clearly an act of expressing contempt, it is about demeaning and devaluing someone.

As Christians we are not to return insult for insult; we are not to use words in a vengeful way, nor are we to curse anyone, not even those who harm us.

As God's child, I can expect to be minimized, insulted, and treated with contempt, because of my relationship with the Lord; but I am not to retaliate when that happens, I am not to seek retribution; for vengeance belongs to God.

In 1Peter 3:9 b
we are told, that instead of giving insult, we are to be “giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.”

Believers should be a blessing to both believers and unbelievers. How can we do that? We can pray for the salvation of an unbeliever. We can pray for the sanctification of a believer. We should always express gratitude for someone’s kindness toward us or toward others. We should forgive those who sin against us, seek forgiveness from those we sin against, and pray for those who persecute us.

1Corinthians 1:18,
“For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

2Corinthians 5:14-21,
“For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Mark 1:14-15,
Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Mark 1:17,
“Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

As Christians, we have received God’s forgiveness for all our sins (past-present-future) and eternal life in heaven; all because of God’s great love for us.

If you have not yet received God’s salvation: forgiveness for sins and eternal life through Jesus Christ who is both Lord and Savior: Repent of your sins, we are all sinners! Believe in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, for there is no other way to be saved; He turns no one away. Follow Christ by demonstrating your new life in Him, seeking to know, obey, and proclaim God’s Word.

1John 5:11-13,
“And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. The one who has the Son has the life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Pastor Mike

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