“Whenever anyone asks…be ready”
Daily Scripture
1 Peter 3:13-16
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
The writer of 1 Peter saw it as important to be ready to provide evidence for our faith, and the hope we live in, to anyone who asks. We best defend our faith and radiate hope, not in arguments or disputes, but by being able to support our faith reasonably and realistically. Candor, confidence, and compassion are vital in order for us to be able to share effectively.
- Reason is important. We need to understand our beliefs (i.e., our doctrine); “beliefs” aren’t beliefs if we don’t truly believe them. But beliefs take on reality in our lifestyle, as people see actions that back up our Christian claims. Does your lifestyle back up your verbal claims of Christianity? Why or why not? Do you have a sense of the story that people tell about you as they see how you live?
- You may, from time to time, meet people who challenge your beliefs, with a strong air of doubt or skepticism. Most in our culture will try to be kind, but like Romans in Peter’s day, some won’t. The author of 1 Peter challenged readers to stay respectful and humble in all situations. How easy or hard do you find it to remain respectful and humble when someone challenges your faith? How does that stance make your beliefs more or less credible to others?
Prayer
O Lord, in my passion to defend my Christian faith, help me to be humble to all I meet. Let your loving kindness flow through me as I represent you to the world around me. Amen.
GPS Insights
Cameron Lowe
Cameron Rowe is a returning summer intern at Resurrection on the Video Team. He is currently a senior at Drury University, majoring in Digital Media. He enjoys watching sports, working out, traveling, and doing other spontaneous activities with friends.
As I write this, we just had one of our intern meetings. One part of our meetings is going over the book about the essential practices of our faith. We talked about sharing our faith today and being prepared for what to say. I feel that this is just one of those “God moments” that the verses I am writing about, and the message today were this similar. Some interesting thoughts came up in our conversation that I’d like to share.
These verses talk about being prepared to share to those that ask but doing this with gentleness and respect. We can all think of examples of people maybe not keeping either one of those in mind when sharing their faith. I think that one thing God would ask us to do before even being approached by someone about our faith would to be to put yourself in others’ shoes. We all share different experiences and backgrounds so keeping that in mind when going into these conversations is imperative. If we are truly called to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, then why shouldn’t we share our faith with gentleness and respect?
During this meeting we had time to think about what our story is and how that impacts our faith. This can be overwhelming if you think you need this grand story about how you were saved, but in our meeting we said it can be very simple and straight to the point. So, in light of this, I feel that this is a perfect time to share my faith story.
I grew up going to church as a kid and was even baptized when I was 10. There were times that I would stray away, but I would eventually find my way back on the path. A big part of my faith are those moments when I would feel that I was at rock bottom. I mean quite recently even, I had felt like I was at that point. In those moments though when I felt like no one was there for me and I was all alone in a physical sense, no matter how cliché it sounds I never felt truly alone. I know that God was always there, and I felt his presence powerfully in those times. In those moments I feel like I am crying out to him and asking for forgiveness and comfort, and it brings a feeling that I cannot even explain. It is a sense of peace and a reminder of why it is important to try and do my best to stay on that path. Another thing for me is listening to music. The song that fits best for me in those situations is “Joy” by For King and Country (click here to see and hear the video of the song). Walking through life alongside with Him makes my life a whole lot better. It might not always be easy because we all fall short of the glory of God at times, but I still can feel peace in knowing that the worst thing is never the last thing.
