Love God 2

1 Peter 1:14-15

In one of my teaching assignments part of my duties was to escort a classroom full of children down a long hallway, down a staircase, down a second hall, all the way to the cafeteria at lunch. It was the rule of the school that students should be quiet as they went to lunch so as not to disturb other classes.

I explained to my students that if they made noise no one would say this student or that student was noisy. They would say that Mr. Emerson’s class was noisy. I explained that in this they represented me, and since I am obedient to the rules they must also be obedient to the rules.

In the same way when we claim the title of “Christian” we are telling everyone that we represent the Son of God. As representatives of Christ we must behave in ways that give honor to the Lord. If we will grow in faith we must be faithful in our beliefs and add to our qualities of being Christian.

Peter has some instructions to faithful believers. What are we to do? What behavior should we live out? Why?

If we are to be obedient to God we must suppress our desires and tendencies to get caught up in the sinfulness of the world. We must avoid and suppress our sinful desires. We no longer live in ignorance. We have been shown the way of living out faith by Christ himself.

But more than simply being obedient to God, more than just having faith, more than just adding goodness to our faith, we must aspire to be holy in our behaviors. We are to add godliness to our faith, goodness and knowledge. We are to be holy in the same way that God is holy.

It is a difficult challenge. It is a high ideal to work toward, but we are children of God and we are challenged to be as holy as God.

And we are not called to be holy now and then. We are not called to be holy in private. We are called to be holy in all that we do.

If we are able to add holiness to our faith we will be one more step closer to being the great Christians we are called to be.

DAILY CHALLENGE: What must you do to be holy?

Investment 2

1 Peter 1:14-15

When our children were in elementary school the issue of school uniforms was a hot-button topic in our town. Many people opposed them as a form of oppression and a way to remove individuality and creativity. We were fine with the concept of school uniforms. It made it easy to decide what each child would wear every day.

After seeing children in school uniforms in other countries I realized that they are a way to provide a sense of belonging to the children. It is evident at a glance who the children are and where they belong. Their outward appearance is an indication of who they are.

When it comes to our faith in Christ we too must put on a sort of uniform. What does Peter urge us NOT to do? How should we behave? Who is our model?

While we may not be expected to all wear the same clothes to show the world we are followers of Jesus, we are urged to have the same type of behavior and attitude. If we will be obedient children of God – that is, if we will love God and do as He desires us to do – then we will not fall to the temptations of earthly life. Rather, our behavior will be the actions of holy people, people who live as Jesus did, expressing care and compassion to others.

Being a child of God means more than just a superficial name we call ourselves. It goes deeper than outward appearances and uniform clothing. If we will be children of God we will be holy because God is holy. We will live a holy life sharing God’s love with all around us.

Like God we must be caring for the people who are in need. We must be forgiving of those who need to know forgiveness. We must resist the temptations of the world, the desire to get ahead in life at any cost, to worry more about ourselves than anyone else, and to find pleasure at the expense of others.

Holy behavior and faith in God requires an investment on our part. We must put forth the effort to live holy lives, modeling ourselves after God in human form – Jesus. “Faith” is more than a word and “Christianity” is more than a name. It requires our commitment to live as we should.

DAILY CHALLENGE: What must you do to be holy?