Estimate reading time: 5 minutes:-)
I wanted to try something different this week.
This summer, I’ve been a part of a bible study that I truly love. We’ve been going through 1 Peter, and this morning I was flipping through the notes I’ve taken over the last few weeks. I came across my notes for the last time we met, and there were so many things that touched my heart that night, I couldn’t decided on a specific theme to center my blog around this morning.
So I decided to make today’s blog about 1 Peter 3, the chapter we went over that week.
This chapter is chock-full of stuff I could write entire books about, so I won’t touch on every verse. But I encourage you to read the chapter (it’s short). It’s transforming to read. Here’s the link: 1 Peter 3.
Okay, so I hope this isn’t too scatter-brained, but here are the notes/revelations we had after reading this chapter as a group:
Marriage isn’t promised and shouldn’t be idolized. After reading the first passage, my friends and I felt super convicted about this. The first chunk of verses talks about husband/wife roles (which are super cool and important and glorifying to God), but the next passage begins by addressing “all of you,” and calling all people, married or not, to the same standard.
Marriage isn’t promised, just like kids aren’t promised and happiness isn’t promised and riches aren’t promised. What is promised is joy and peace that passes understanding. What is promised is salvation through Jesus Christ and purpose.
Every day, I find myself worshiping the next season of life. On Instagram, I follow people who are in that next stage I so long for. But when I dedicate hours of my time to look at people who are just a few years ahead of me with envy and longing, I lose sight of the promises God is fulfilling in my life today.
God knows the desires of our hearts. He knows how badly I want to get married and have kids, etc. etc. But He also knows what I need. Sometimes, what we want and need line up. Sometimes they don’t. But I’m learning to trust God’s ability to know the difference.
We’re called to pursue peace. Verse 11 says, “let them turn away from evil and do good; let them seek peace and pursue it.” We pondered for a long time: what does it look like to pursue peace daily?
What I’ve learned the last few weeks is that pursuing peace encompasses every sphere of our lives. Looking at marriage and relationships, when we make God the center and constantly ask ourselves how we can be more like Jesus to those around us, we are pursuing peace. The way we handle conflict is also a powerful testimony, and when we show the world how we pursue peace, the world notices.
Our hearts and minds work together in pursuing peace. There’s this idea that’s been floating around for decades that faith has everything to do with the heart and nothing to do with the mind. But it couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Just like our faith and pursuing peace should encompass every part of our lives, they should also involve every part of our being. Pursuing peace is a conscious decision to use our bodies to glorify God rather than ourselves, and that decision flows from our heart posture. It’s all connected.
What makes me beautiful? Verse 3-4 (“Do not adorn yourselves outwardly by braiding your hair, and by wearing gold ornaments or fine clothing; rather, let your adornment be the inner self with the lasting beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God’s sight.”) are some of the most referenced verses in the Bible when it comes to beauty, but we noticed a few things that are rarely talked about.
The gentleness we are called to, especially in marriage, doesn’t equate to weakness. You can still be gentle and strong. You can have a quiet spirit and a strong spirit at the same time.
And not only does our beauty come from our intrinsic value as God’s creation, but it comes from accepting God’s authority. Accepting God’s authority in my life makes me beautiful, whether that means embracing my role as a woman, or surrendering my life to Christ, or sacrificing my time or reputation or agenda for God’s glory.
It’s true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but as Christians, we have one Beholder above them all, and His name is Jesus.
And lastly…
God’s love doesn’t make sense. Some people don’t like the song “Reckless Love” because they don’t believe God’s love is reckless. But I think God’s love is as reckless as it gets. And here’s why.
Jesus seriously stared death in the eyes and knew we wouldn’t take Him seriously.
Jesus laid down His life knowing full well that by doing so, He was giving a choice to the most unreliable, sinful, blind, and stubborn creatures on the planet: humans.
In those moments Jesus carried the cross up to Golgotha, He knew about all the times you would choose something else over Him. All the times you would say no to His face. All the times you would choose to love something else, spend time with someone else. All the times you would turn your back.
But He still walked up that hill.
And here’s something that completely revolutionized my way of viewing the gospel:
Every time we worry, we tell Jesus His death wasn’t enough.
Every time we strive or long for something else, we tell Jesus His sacrifice wasn’t enough.
That’s how broken we are. We’re so broken, we can’ t even begin to imagine what it looks like to choose Jesus over everything else. We can’t even begin to understand what it looks like to stop striving or worrying or longing. That’s how broken we are.
I know this week looked different than usual, but I hope you can glean something from 1 Peter 3 like I did. If you think this chapter is beautiful, so is the rest of the Bible! It’s crazy! You should read it!
God loves you and God chose you. Spend some time with Him this weekend;-)