Sometimes the message we communicate is not the same as the words we say. For example, we may say that we love our jobs, but every day we show up miserable and like we would rather be anywhere else. The same thing is true for our families and loved ones. I can tell them I love them all day long, but if all they see out of me is frustration and a discontent attitude, what message am I really communicating? Some of us say, “Good is good all the time”, but we live our lives with the same hopeless and lost demeaner that the world does.
Peter starts his first letter with an encouraging message with a unique result. Regardless of the trials that we must endure, every Christian should have an inexpressible joy because of our faith and blessings found in Christ (1 Peter 1:7,8). Later on, he commands that we should make His word our source of nourishment because we have “tasted the kindness of the Lord” (2:2,3). For those of us who can rightfully say that, the only adequate response is for us to send out a message of His exceptional moral character (2:9); and as a matter of fact, it is one of the reasons He chose us.
Do I send out a message to the world that “God is good”, or do I just say it? If we truly have experienced God’s love and kindness, then that should be something that others see as we walk this life together. This challenge is not that we are happy all the time, but that there be a noticeable difference between me and the lost. Some or all of us are enduring real hardship, but God is still good. Let’s share that with the world!
In Love,
Sage