"Suffer For Good" - 1 Peter 3:13-17

"13 Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, 15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; 16 and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. 17 For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong." - 1 Peter 3:13-17 NASB

     It can be a frightening thing to answer evil with good; to allow ourselves to be taken advantage of; to not seek our own safety...  God wants us to trust Him more than we fear suffering, and more than we fear evil.  We must trust that we are His and that because of that, we cannot be destroyed.  Even though we may suffer in this life, it is temporary compared to the blessing we receive in eternity with Him.  No power of Hell or Earth, no evil can ever snatch us out of His hand.  And so we have freedom in placing our trust in Him.
     If we have truly surrendered completely to Christ as Lord of our hearts, then we will be ready to respond in love.  "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks," Christ says in Luke 6.  If our heart is filled with Christ, then Christ-like words will come out of our mouth.  Our attitude towards even our persecutors will be Christ-like.  And even more, responding to them with gentleness and respect will be like a slap in the face.  If they are looking to get a rise out of you, you will rob them of that.  Or, they may just not know what to do with your love.  Not that we should be motivated by trying to stick it to our enemies, but it's a nice little bonus to doing what is right in this instance.  I kid, but really, showing Christ's love in this way can cause them to think... It can seriously affect people!
     If anything is a guarantee in this life, it's that we will endure some amount of suffering.  Some of us will suffer more than others, but all of us can choose to handle it well.  Peter ends by saying that if God should will it that you suffer (and you almost certainly will, Jesus said so,) it's better to suffer for doing what's right, than to suffer for doing what is wrong and get what you deserve.