1 Peter: Confidence in a Complex WorldSample

14: Heart and Mouth

The other morning I was having an absolute mare. All three of my kids were up by 05:15, as if waking us up six times throughout the night hadn’t been enough. One bad nappy, two spilt bowls of Cheerios, and 57 cries of ‘Seth hit me’ later, I was barely keeping a lid on it. At 07:30 I was upstairs, attempting to rouse my wife from her slumber, cajoling her to join the fray. Zoe, against my clear instructions, was dancing by the top of the stairs. Half a step into my journey to rescue her from this game of chicken with gravity, I smashed my forearm on the doorframe. Let’s just say words came out of my mouth.

You can imagine how Christians in the first century would have felt: governors who failed to protect them, masters who beat them, husbands who undermined them. And you know from your own experience how short the journey is from our hearts to our mouths. It would have been so easy for them to curse those making their lives a misery – under their breath or to a friend. Or if they really lost it, to their agitator’s face.

Once again, Peter calls all Christians to take a higher road. Don’t fight the fire of insult with more insulting fire. Douse them with buckets of blessing instead. After all, we are ‘a royal priesthood, a holy nation’ (2:9). We are to point others to God by our good behaviour (2:12) as we follow in the footsteps of a Lord who was found to have ‘no deceit’ in his mouth (2:22). Fighting back may be the natural thing to do, the expected thing even, but it doesn’t further God’s mission.

Although 3:9-12 speaks into who we should be as the ‘scattered’ people of God, 3:8 reminds us of the role we can play when we gather. The mission fields of our daily lives might be harsh and unforgiving (though not necessarily), but the church community should always be a place of unity, understanding, and family-like love. The time we spend together as Christians can (and must) shape us to be people who look more like Jesus, whatever situations in life we might face. 

Reflect:

How are you responding in your heart (and with your mouth) to difficult people or situations in your life?

Verse 8 calls us to ‘be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.’ Which of these characteristics would God want to affirm you in? And which might he be calling you to grow in at this present time?

Pray:

Pray that your heart and mouth might reflect the heart and mouth of Jesus, even in situations where you are stressed or hassled. Pray that God would help you and the Christians you are in fellowship with to excel in harmony, sympathy, brotherly love, compassion, and humility.