1 Peter 3: Righteousness Will Peacefully Transform The World

In 1 Peter 3, we have a continuation of Peter speaking to the church about righteous and holy living. When discussing holy living you have to dig into the actions and reactions of people.

Many times Christian people will react in ways that aren’t holy, this is because there’s still some work deep down that needs to be accomplished.

For example, I despise driving during rush hour traffic, and it’s not the normal hatred. It makes me angry. I judge people fast and have been known to use 4 letter words.

This isn’t Godly, Righteous, or Peaceful living. When I get angry, I have to adjust my mindset. It usually means I’m stressed out, and not spending enough time with God. Either way, I have to make a change, or my sin will envelop my life.

Below is a breakdown of 1 Peter 3. I hope you enjoy it, let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

1 Peter 3: A Message To Wives

In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands. Then, even if some refuse to obey the Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over ² by observing your pure and reverent lives.

³ Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. ⁴ You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. 

⁵ This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They put their trust in God and accepted the authority of their husbands. ⁶ For instance, Sarah obeyed her husband, Abraham, and called him her master. You are her daughters when you do what is right without fear of what your husbands might do.

1 Peter 3: 1-6

1 Peter 3 A Message To Wives

I honestly believe verse 1 gets taken out of context all the time in this chapter. If you’ve read my book, Hurricane Jerald you’ll understand that I’m not okay with abuse, and I’ve taken a few bullies out in my day.

However, if you read 1 Peter 3 carefully, it’s talking about submitting to their authority so the husband can come to know Jesus. It isn’t for a man to lord his authority over his wife. A man should be a servant leader for his wife. This means doing the things she needs to thrive. Paul later says husbands should treat their wives like Jesus treated the church.

What did Christ do for the church?

He died for us.

Likewise, the wife should be the same to him, using their skills to further the kingdom of God and live awesome and full lives.

When you have to lord your authority over someone else, you show how little authority you have. In addition to that, real leaders serve their followers.

It frustrates me how often 1 Peter 3 gets taken out of context, in the book of Genesis when God created Eve, she names his help mate.

In other words, the husband and the wife complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Creating a pair that will do awesome things in life.

1 Peter 3: A Message To Husbands

⁷ In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.

1 Peter 3:7

1 Peter 3: I Think The Weakness He Refers To Is Physical

In today’s day and age, husbands haven’t done the best job of raising their children or helping their wives. It’s a tragedy. Divorce is at an all-time high, and domestic abuse has been on the rise. This increase has been attributed to lockdowns and increased working from home.

I’ve lived by myself through this entire pandemic, so I don’t know what mindset people would have, but I do know living with someone 24/7 can cause problems. I grew up in a tiny home with 4 sisters, 1 Brother, and my parents.

When you get put into tense situations like a lockdown, the stress forces the fracture to break and rise to the top.

Before the pandemic men and women could always work more, go out for dinner with the guys (or girls), and avoid all of their problems.

Now it’s all rising to the surface and it needs a release. It should be noted under stress, you’ll find out what type of person you are. Things you’ve never thought of doing will come out, and the inner person will be harder to restrain.

This is why we should be honest with our spouses, and heal the cracks before anything more comes of them. And let the Holy Spirit do a deep cleaning on our hearts. He changes our hearts and redirects our choices.

1 Peter 3 A Message To All Christians

⁸ Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. ⁹ Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing. 

¹⁰ For the Scriptures say,

“If you want to enjoy life
    and see many happy days,
keep your tongue from speaking evil
    and your lips from telling lies.
¹¹ Turn away from evil and do good.
    Search for peace, and work to maintain it.
¹² The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right,
    and his ears are open to their prayers.
But the Lord turns his face
    against those who do evil.”

1 Peter 3: 8-12

1 Peter 3: Choosing Righteous And Stopping Evil:

Verse 10 sticks out to me, and I think God is telling me to watch my tongue. I’m not a liar but I do speak a lot of things I shouldn’t. Even if someone else doesn’t think it’s evil I do, and that means I need to make a change.

These 4 verses give us an idea of what we need to do. It speaks about repentance and letting our sins go.

We dump them out and say that’s it, God, I’m not doing that again. However, we never turn away and leave that place. Instead, we sit down and get comfortable. Relaxing next to your discarded sins is a bad place to be. Proverbs 26:11 compares this to a dog who eats its vomit.

To be fully repentant we need to dump our sins, turn around, and RUN!!!! Put as much distance between you and the evil you want to commit.

Cut all ties, put some distance between you, and don’t let yourself justify returning to it.

I’m preaching to myself here, I’ve done this more times than I’d like to admit.

This is the message of 1 Peter 3, true repentance is dropping your sin and running after God.

1 Peter 3: Suffering Even When You’re Doing Good

¹³ Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? ¹⁴ But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. ¹⁵ Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. 

¹⁶ But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. ¹⁷ Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!

¹⁸ Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.

¹⁹ So he went and preached to the spirits in prison— ²⁰ those who disobeyed God long ago when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat. Only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood. ²¹ And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

²² Now Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers accept his authority.

1 Peter 3: 13-22

1 Peter 3: God Keeps Tally So We Don’t Need To

People can be good and they can be evil. A few times in my life I’ve gotten blamed for another person’s evil deeds and couldn’t vindicate myself.

I’ve also brought someone to court for wages he didn’t pay, won the case, and still don’t have the money owed me. So instead of getting angry and possibly making a stupid choice (there are always better options), I choose to let things go.

I realized a long time ago that God keeps track of everything we do, and we will be rewarded or punished for it. This means the guy who didn’t pay me for 3 weeks’ work while my father was dying will get his rewards, but I’ll have to answer to God about the evil things I said about him unless I repent.

It’s not about what happens to us, it’s about how we react to these things.

God is the ultimate judge, and we need to be righteous, help our fellow man/woman, and treat our spouses with dignity and respect. The way Jesus loved the church was by giving his life for it.

1 Peter 3 is a treasure trove of information for Christians old and new. I hope you liked my latest breakdown, don’t forget to subscribe below.

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