TRANSFORMED INTO A MAN OF GOD - 2

The apostle Peter teaches and encourages the church to stand fast in the face of persecution. In last week’s post we discussed the first two of five qualities that he listed in 1 Peter 3:8. They were unity and sympathy. If you missed reading last week’s post, you can go to Archives on the left side of the page and choose October and then the article Transformed Into A Man Of God.

As we continue looking at 1 Peter 3:8, we next come to the words “brotherly love.”

BROTHERLY LOVE

There are several words in the Greek for love but here Peter chose to use the word philadelphio, which is translated “brotherly love.” It is easy to see how the name of the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, came from this.

It is one thing for a group to be united but it’s something else for them to display love between themselves. We are to “love as brothers” because we are family.

I must admit that at times I don’t feel very comfortable saying that I love everybody but I know that I must. I doubt that there is one person reading this post who hasn’t been hurt by a fellow Christian. They may have offended you in some way by something that was said or done, and it left a bad taste in your mouth. But no matter what they have done, you are to love them as a brother.

Jesus said to His disciples, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34, ESV).

We are family!

Next we come to “tenderhearted.”

TENDERHEARTED    

 

In the King James Version, the word that Peter used here was translated “be pitiful.” Somehow I don’t think the translators had in mind what today’s interpretation of that phrase is. Peter was saying to the church that we are to have kind thoughts towards each other; we are to be compassionate or tenderhearted toward each other.

Sometimes during times of stress I find myself becoming rather rigid/hard-hearted toward people I know. I guess it’s a type of defensive reaction. Peter is addressing the church during a time that it was going through severe persecution and was teaching them that they must not allow a hardness of heart to overtake them.

The great secret of maintaining a tender heart lies in our fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was so strong and at the same time so tenderhearted — not because He knew so little but because He knew so much. He saw all that men had to bear and battle through. He never lost His tenderheartedness even in the darkness of going to the cross. Our staying in fellowship with Him will powerfully assist us in staying tenderhearted toward our brothers and sisters in the church.

Finally we come to “a humble mind.”

A HUMBLE MIND

Humility is the posture of every strong Christian. The seat of humility is in the heart/mind. It is not a gift we are given but a conscious choice of the follower of Christ.

First Peter 5:5: “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

The word Peter chose here for opposes is a military term that means to resist or counter. In plain words, this tells us that God will have nothing to do with pride. This is not an isolated passage.

For thus says the high and lofty One
    who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
    and also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit,
to revive the spirit of the humble,
    and to revive the heart of the contrite” (Isaiah 57:15, RSV).

I have had the privilege of meeting some really great and well known men and women of God over the last fifty years and I can attest to the fact that all of the really great ones were humble. I don’t like some of what I see on Christian TV. I especially don’t like seeing some who brag about all they’ve done, all they have, and how great they are. The really humble ones don’t do that; they just do the work of God and give Him the glory.

We have personal control over these qualities Peter listed that we need in order to stand fast in times of great pressure and persecution. We choose to be in unity; we choose to flow in sympathy; we choose to be people of brotherly love; we choose to be tenderhearted; and we choose to be humble.

But will we?

A strong church happens only when individuals are strong, and they link arms with their brothers and sisters in Christ.

“United we stand, divided we fall.”