Sharing Hope With Respectful Humility
Daily Scripture
1 Peter 3:8-16
8 Finally, all of you be of one mind, sympathetic, lovers of your fellow believers, compassionate, and modest in your opinion of yourselves. 9 Don’t pay back evil for evil or insult for insult. Instead, give blessing in return. You were called to do this so that you might inherit a blessing. 10 For
those who want to love life
and see good days
should keep their tongue from evil speaking
and their lips from speaking lies.
11 They should shun evil and do good;
seek peace and chase after it.
12 The Lord’s eyes are on the righteous
and his ears are open to their prayers.
But the Lord cannot tolerate those who do evil [Psalm 34:12-16].
13 Who will harm you if you are zealous for good? 14 But happy are you, even if you suffer because of righteousness! Don’t be terrified or upset by them. 15 Instead, regard Christ the Lord as holy in your hearts. Whenever anyone asks you to speak of your hope, be ready to defend it. 16 Yet do this with respectful humility, maintaining a good conscience. Act in this way so that those who malign your good lifestyle in Christ may be ashamed when they slander you.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
Lionel Messi: “I prefer to win titles with the team ahead of individual awards or scoring more goals than anyone else. What’s more, I’m more concerned about being a good person than being the best football player in the world.”
We call defending and giving evidence for the Christian faith “apologetics.” Like Messi, our aim isn’t individual glory but playing our part on a winning team. 1 Peter saw what Messi recognized: character matters more than achievement. The best “apologetic” isn’t winning arguments but being ready to support our faith candidly, confidently, and with compassionate humility.
- Christian faith involves both belief (what we hold to be true) AND lifestyle (how we live what we believe). The two should support each other—our actions backing up our verbal claims. Would your lifestyle back up your verbal claims of Christianity? What might it cost to let your faith shape your lifestyle? What story might others tell about you—and how does that story align with what you believe?
- How do Christians defend their faith without becoming either bland (just blending in) or arrogant (lecturing others)? Scholar N. T. Wright described “the fine line between sinking without trace into the surrounding culture, on the one hand, and adopting a stand-offish, holier-than-thou approach on the other.” Peter’s answer, drawing on Psalm 34: “seek peace and chase after it.” * How easy or hard do you find it to remain respectful and humble when your faith is challenged? What helps you respond with grace rather than defensiveness?
Prayer
O Lord, in my passion to defend my Christian faith, help me remain humble to all I meet. Let your loving kindness flow through me as I represent you to the world around me. Amen.
GPS Insights
Janelle Gregory
Janelle Gregory, who serves as Resurrection's Human Resources Lead Director, wrote today's Insights. Janelle finds that her heart is constantly wrestling with the truth that she needs a Savior, and the times when she's at her very best are when she's just too tired to put up a fight.
I once heard someone say that we can either be thermometers or thermostats. How so? A thermometer simply tells you the temperature. If it’s hot, it reads hot. If it’s cold, it reads cold. It reflects whatever is happening around it. A thermostat does something different. It changes the temperature of the environment. When the room gets too cold, it kicks on the heat. When it gets too warm, it signals the air conditioner. It doesn’t simply reflect the room; it influences.
I think many of us find it much easier to be thermometers. When someone is kind, we’re kind. When someone is encouraging, we’re encouraging. But when someone is rude, angry, or sarcastic? Well, our temperatures have a way of rising with theirs. It’s amazing how quickly we can mirror the attitudes around us. “You want to play that way, do you? Oh, I can play, too. Just watch!”
Our faith challenges us to do something different. If we’ve been thrown anger, we’re to return peace. When we’re insulted, we’re to return kindness. Instead of trying to win an argument, we’re to point toward the hope we’ve found in Christ. This doesn’t mean that we become doormats or avoid conflict. However, we’re to speak with respect and humility.
Our culture often rewards the loudest voice, the sharpest comeback, or the side that’s willing to win at all costs. But we’re not to chase after this kind of reward when things get hot, we’re to change the temperature. We’re to bring hope, compassion, and humility into the conversation. When we truly experience the message of the gospel by living a life of redemption, we understand that the greatest testimony isn’t having the perfect answer. It’s being the thermostat who changes the atmosphere simply by reflecting the character of Christ.
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* N. T. Wright, Early Christian Letters for Everyone. Westminster John Knox Press, p. 89 (Kindle edition).
