Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.
~ 1 Peter 2:18-19 (ESV)
There are a lot of hard things in the Bible. Or at least they seem hard. They run exactly contrary to our basic instincts, and this injunction from Peter is definitely one of them! When our boss acts like a horse's backside, makes a sarcastic remark that belittles us, blames us for his own mistakes, doesn't recognize our contribution, promotes someone ahead of us who doesn't have our skills and experience just because they are somebody's relative or friend or object of affection — it hurts!
But one of the big goals of being Christian is to be able to emulate Christ fully: “Do not love the world or the things in the world.” (1 John 2:15) Christianity takes practice. Every time you shrug off a bit of unfairness or anything else that hurt you in this world — your pride, your wallet, your power, your prestige, your ideas — you take a step up a long ladder.
Jesus and the early Christians were immune! They were fearless. Not that they were naturally brave — remember Peter denying Christ three times? — but because they saturated themselves in holiness. And you can have this precious attribute: by practicing your faith actively, you will get stronger and stronger in the Spirit until nothing this earth can offer will bother you.
Holy Spirit, be with me and strengthen me more every day, so that I can endure the sufferings of this world with patience, made impervious by my faith in the resurrection and hope of the great reward of God. In the name of Christ I pray, Amen.
In Jesus,
Cap'n Kenny
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Scripture taken from the The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Devotion by ~ Mason Barge - Editor, Daily Prayer.
There are a lot of hard things in the Bible. Or at least they seem hard.
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