Suffering (10) and Love

If suffering is God's will we must respond to it in God's way. Therefore, Peter outlines the response a Christian should give to persecution and rough treatment. It is not an easy response.

First, a Christian must not respond to opposition or hostility with hate or retaliation, but with love . This should be evident from the example of Christ.

When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly (1 Pet 2:23).

Christians should follow his example.

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 (1 Pet 3:9).

If Christians retaliate, the wrongdoer will be put off the Christian life. Retaliation leads to bitterness, so the only good response to evil is love.

Tags: Suffering, Turning the Other Cheek, Love