Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence.” vss. 15b-16a
1 Peter 3:13-17
It’s not unusual in these days of political division and constant turmoil for our conversations to reflect despair and pessimism. We get a full dose of bad news with every news cycle, and each day brings reports of mass shootings and border turmoil. Disaster seems just around the corner, and people tend to compete with one another in relating their tales of hopelessness and tragedy. No wonder so many struggle with issues of depression and anxiety! Bad news is all around! Peter was familiar with those laments. The people he was writing to had every reason to fear the future–suffering was always close at hand and the Roman overlords were cruel. But these followers of Jesus refused to capitulate to the predictors of doom and disaster. Where others saw the ending of God’s world, they saw new beginnings. When others were filled with despair, they held onto hope. They remind us that people of faith will always speak of the future with hope and expectation. Things are going to get better. And if the purveyors of gloom come at us with their dire predictions, we are called to testify to our hopefulness, and do it with gentleness and kindness. Our God is good and goodness will always triumph!
Thought for the Day: When am I tempted to talk about how bad things are?
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