1 Peter 4: Living For God Is Going To Be Tough

1 Peter 4, Talks about the right way to live for God, and what to expect when you follow him. Life is difficult, but when you have Christ you have an advocate to walk with you.

Peter begins the chapter by talking about the sufferings of Christ. It’s something we should remember daily and when going through trials. There are many Christians in the world today who believe walking with God will make their lives perfect.

They couldn’t be any more wrong.

Walking with God is more like running through a gauntlet. Following Jesus has made my life more difficult. And I don’t say that to scare people. Once you make the choice to follow God you’ll have the devil, his evil army, and the world standing against you.

However, you need to remember a verse from John 4:

greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

John 4:4

You’ve fallen into a difficult situation, and the battle is real. However following Jesus only makes you aware of it. The battle for your soul has been raging since the day you were born. But you get to decide who you’ll side with.

In addition to that, remember that you’re no longer alone, the day you choose to follow him the Holy Spirit comes alongside you. With his power, you can win any battle, no matter how hopeless things seem.

1 Peter 4: Righteous Living for God

4 So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin. ² You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God. ³ You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.

1 Peter 4:1-3

1 Peter 4 Be Finished With Sin:

This is something we all struggle with, and I’m no different. Sometimes I wonder why or even how God could have me write these truths on my blog. I still struggle, sometimes daily, but when I fail I get back up and keep fighting.

We have to realize that we are our own worst enemies, and yet somehow God still loves us.

1 Peter 4 states that we need to abstain from sin, and once we suffer physically nothing will stop us from following God. Here’s my thought process on this, in some countries Christian converts are tortured until they renounce Jesus. In many other places, families will disown each other.

I think if I make it through torture without giving up Jesus, nothing else is going to matter to me.

Keep in mind, 1 Peter 4 is not stating that you’ll be done from sin when you accept physical punishment, unfortunately, people have misconstrued that message in the past.

However, when we sin, we need to get back up, dust ourselves off, and keep walking the straight and narrow Christ has set before us.

As a child how much did you fall down when learning to walk? Your father didn’t scold you every time you fell, and I bet it was a lot. This is essentially the same thing.

You have to decide in your heart that you want God in your life more than whatever you’re doing. In fact, that thing is essentially what is keeping you from God. It’s forming a wall that you must tear down, and you need God for help.

1 Peter 4: Friends And Family:

⁴ Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you. ⁵ But remember that they will have to face God, who stands ready to judge everyone, both the living and the dead. ⁶ That is why the Good News was preached to those who are now dead—so although they were destined to die like all people, they now live forever with God in the Spirit.

1 Peter 4: 4-6

1 Peter 4: People Will Hate You Because Of Jesus

1 Peter 4 echoes what Jesus said in John 15. People will begin to hate you because you follow Christ. And they will try to make your life miserable because of it.

Following Jesus means the people around you will feel his presence, and sometimes when they feel him. They don’t like it. People have strong attachments to their sins, and his presence shines a light on them.

This is because deep down, we know it’s wrong, we don’t need someone to tell us this. One of the great lies we believe in America is that we should accept everything. And making others feel bad is wrong. But that isn’t love.

I’m not saying we should go down the street pointing out the flaws in others. (In fact, I’d advise against that). Remember, you should remove the plank from your eye before you help someone with their splinter.

1 Peter 4: The End Of The World

⁷ The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. ⁸ Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. ⁹ Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.

¹⁰ God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. ¹¹ Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

1 Peter 4: 7-11

1 Peter 4: About Spiritual Giftings

In the day and age of Covid, you can’t help but hear about the end of the world. For small children, this is the only life they’ve known, but hearing about the end of the world has brought about a different mentality in me.

On my fridge at home, I have a whiteboard, and on this board, I leave messages to myself. Mostly it contains what God is speaking to me and what I’m trying to focus on.

Currently, I have written on the top of it:

We’re All Dying, So Make Sure You Live Today.

Me Or Perhaps A Lot Of Other People

We are all striving for something more, and a lot of times we fail, but we don’t realize that we all have a meeting with the grim reaper, and it’s something we can’t avoid. Yeah, it can probably get pushed back a few times, but eventually, everyone succumbs to him.

While I know this news is upsetting, you can make it uplifting as well. How are you living your life? Are you using your God-given spiritual gifts to help others? Or are you sitting on them doing nothing? This is what Peter was talking about in 1 Peter 4.

These are the struggles we all face, but when we look death in the eye none of us are going to wish we’d worked more. Only the things that are done for Christ will last.

Spiritual gifts are given to us so we can help others. Some people get lots of wealth, and their job is to help those in need. Others have gifts of healing.

Whatever gift you have, use it to reveal and share the glory of God.

1 Peter 4: Suffering for Being a Christian

¹² Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. ¹³ Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.

¹⁴ If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you. ¹⁵ If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs. 

¹⁶ But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name! ¹⁷ For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God’s household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News? ¹⁸ And also,

“If the righteous are barely saved,
    what will happen to godless sinners?”

¹⁹ So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.

1 Peter 4: 12-19

1 Peter 4: Suffering For Christ Vs. Or Suffering Stupidity

I like that Peter marked the difference between suffering for Christ and suffering because you did wrong. Have you ever met a person who did wrong and then got confronted? TikTok has an entire series on these people. They did wrong and then try to turn the tables.

But 1 Peter 4 makes it very clear that if we do wrong and are punished for it, that’s not persecution. Instead, any suffering we face because we follow Christ comes with a blessing, and we should take joy in it.

Suffering for the cause of Christ makes us partners in the suffering on the cross.

It’s a hard thought process to develop, and I’m not even sure if I can understand it fully until I get to heaven. Maybe I’m too hard on myself but the harder I try to be with God. The harder it seems to get there.

When you decide to focus on Christ, you’re inviting him into your life. He’ll walk with you, and talk with you. However, you’re also putting a target on your back.

I don’t say these things to dissuade you. Instead, I’m writing this to cheer you on. Deciding to follow Jesus is the greatest decision anybody can make. You’ll receive peace, hope, and love with him at your side.

And you won’t be alone anymore.

Tell me what you think. Did I miss anything in my analysis of 1 Peter 4 (pretty sure I did)? My goal is to write about chapters in the bible and convey what God is speaking to me. I hope you enjoyed my latest post, don’t forget to subscribe and comment below.

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