1 Peter 4
I recently heard someone say that we, as Christians, should look past the lifestyles people lead and focus on the contributions they have made helping the impoverished and oppressed in the world. It was an interesting statement to make. Especially, when that person has made multiple professions of faith yet still lives as one of the world. First Peter chapter 4 has some words to say about this situation that would benefit us all…
“1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin), 2 so as to live for the rest of your earthly life no longer by human desires but by the will of God. 3 You have already spent enough time in doing what the Gentiles like to do, living in licentiousness, passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry.
4 They are surprised that you no longer join them in the same excesses of dissipation, and so they blaspheme. 5 But they will have to give an accounting to him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.” (verses 1-6)
As people who believe in the Lord Jesus, how should we be living? Verse 2 makes it very clear that we are to live the rest of our lives according to the will of God and not to our own. We have put all those sinful things behind us and now live as one changed. In fact, our change should have been so complete that even our former friends were surprised when we turn down their offers and choose other things to occupy our time. It is because of this that they say things like, “Are you too good for us now?”
Have you ever had a “friend” tell you that? I have. It was back in high school not long after I fully gave my life over to Christ. I can tell you that I was completely caught off guard and was hurt a little. But it gave me an opportunity to share with him how much my life had changed and that it was all about God. The tables were turned and they saw that I wasn’t any better than they were. The only difference was that I was now forgiven. Do I still sin? Unfortunately, yes. Do I do it intentionally? Sometimes because of my stubborn heart but I regret it immensely after the fact. That’s not a place within which I like to live because it only brings me down and keeps me focused on, well, me and not Jesus. Does living like that keep me in God’s will? Do I even have to answer that one?
So, what is God’s will for our lives? What do you mean you don’t know? Didn’t you get the email? I didn’t either but God’s word reveals much about this topic too. Rick Warren, in The Purpose Driven Life, says that “it’s not about you. The purpose of your life is greater than your own personal fulfillment, your career, or even your happiness. To know why you exist, you must first know the One who created you and the five purposes for which you were created. You were planned for God’s pleasure (worship), formed for God’s family (fellowship), created to become like Christ (discipleship), shaped for serving God, and made for a mission (evangelism).”
