A Heart Issue

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER OF PETER

A HEART ISSUE

1 Peter 3:8-12

8 Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. 11 He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."  

NIV

Peter is quoting from Psalm 34 in this portion of his letter. He brings this to our attention by first making a point about living in harmony with one another, or as the Greek word implies, be of one mind. This would mean no conflicts among believers. However, does it mean we would always agree about everything in life, or does this just mean regarding doctrinal or spiritual matters? Certainly, there is a disagreement over doctrinal matters otherwise we would only have one denomination, the body of Christ. So then perhaps the clue to what kind of harmony Peter is referring to lies in the details. We are to be sympathetic. We actually get this word sympathetic directly from the Greek word, supathees, which means to feel the like with another. In other words, when someone rejoices or is glad about something, we should be glad with them, or if someone is suffering, or sad about something, we should suffer along or be sad with them. It really sounds more like empathy rather than sympathy. Yet the point is the same, that we should be like-minded, with others, which would mean we cannot always be thinking about ourselves but should be aware and compassionate toward others. That would fit right along with loving as brothers. This is that brotherly type love, the filadelfos, love, the base word of Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. Although it would seem that city may not live up to its name. But the question is whether we live up to this type of love. If we love as brothers and sisters, we would do no harm to each other in any shape or form. This would include any type of speech that would or could imply any negative implications toward anyone, such as the case gossip usually carries. Brotherly and sisterly love most likely implies putting the interest of others before ourselves. That is not the easiest thing to do if we were to do it all the time. We might never get anything we want to accomplish finished. Maybe that brotherly love is not as much like the agapaoo type love, which we are also told we should love that way too. Nevertheless, loving others again means doing them no harm. To be compassionate means to be tenderhearted, as the Greek implies. These attitudes which develop into behaviors all refer to our relationships with others. To care about people, about our fellow believers, to be concerned about their lives, their struggles, their failures, and their successes. Again, this carries the idea that we need not always be thinking about ourselves, which is also included in being humble. Peter goes on to explain just how all those attitudes look like. We should not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, instead if someone insults us, we should bless them, in that way we inherit a blessing. Not that we bless to get blessed, but by blessing them, the result will be a blessing in our lives. That is just the way it works. Peter then says the same thing all over again by quoting from the 34^th psalm. Simply put, watch that tongue, which means watch our heart, for what is in our heart sneaks out our mouth. It always comes down to a heart issue. God looks at our heart, and the heart that is bent toward evil is against the Lord and he is against it, but the heart that is bent toward righteousness, and as a result lives for peace and pursues it, the Lord is attentive to that heart’s prayers. Let us keep our hearts in tune with the Lord.