1 Peter 4:1–2 (ESV) — 1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm
yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh
has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh
no longer for human passions but for the will of God.
NOTE: These are not
the easiest verses in the world to understand. I think I see Peter's point in
the extreme. When we suffer for a sin, we finally wake up to why that sin is so
terrible. Maybe drunkenness has caused an accident or ruined a relationship.
Maybe sexual sins have hurt our marriage or resulted in adultery or divorce.
For the unbeliever, there may be some learning, but for the believer, it can be
a wakeup call to our sin's destructiveness and our need to change. It may cause
us to finally turn to God in utter repentance, crying out for help. Of course,
it would be a whole lot better if we could learn without the pain, if we could
call out to God in the agony of our spirit without having to learn the harder
lesson. And maybe that is Peter's point, you can suffer and be cleansed from
sin, or you can choose, in repentance and the power of the Holy Spirit, to put
off the sin and to put on behavior (that replaces) that is pleasing to God.
PRAYER: Father, help
me to see where I need to change, where I am playing with things that I need to
let go. Help me to see those things, to repent wholeheartedly, and to replace
those sins with activities and behavior that please you. Open my eyes to my
faults.
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