Loving Life And Seeing Good Days

Continuing our verse-by-verse study of 1 Peter, we left off in Chapter 3 and verse 9, where Peter challenges Christians to bless one another. And, in the last part of that verse, he gives what I believe to be a supernatural principle:

“knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.”

Here’s the principle:

**Those who bless others will receive a blessing from God.

Bless Others and God Blesses You

Peter goes on in verses 10-12 to show how this principle works. In these three verses, Peter is quoting Scripture (Psalm 34).

By the way, do you know Scripture? Do you quote Scripture to help you in daily life?  That’s what Peter’s doing here, quoting from Psalm 34 to show how this ‘two-way blessing principle’ works:

For
“He who would love life
And see good days,
Let him refrain his tongue from evil,
And his lips from speaking deceit.
Let him turn away from evil and do good;
Let him seek peace and pursue it.

1 Peter 3:10-12

There are two main ways God blesses you when you bless others: 1) He gives to you His peace, and 2) He listens to your prayers. Let’s take them one at a time.

1) He Gives to you His Peace

Peter teaches that when you and I are committed to living out our calling of blessing  others, God rewards us with peace and contentment.

Look again at verse 10:

“He who would love life and see good days…”

The blessing that “we inherit” (1 Peter 3:9) begins here with loving life and seeing good days. It speaks to the matter of peace and contentment in life, contentment in the life God has given us regardless of our outward circumstances.

It’s like what Paul talks about in Philippians 4 where he writes about having “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7), a peace that leads to contentment. Remember Paul writes later in Philippians 4:11: “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.”

When you live-out your calling to bless others–those around you and those against you–God rewards you with the blessing of loving life and seeing good days. You are content in the life God has given you. That is a peaceful blessing, indeed!

Then, in the second half of verse 10, Peter reminds us not to return evil for evil or reviling for reviling:

Let him refrain his tongue from evil,
And his lips from speaking deceit.

He adds in verse 11:

Let him turn away from evil and do good;
Let him seek peace and pursue it.

Again, there is a principle at work here: Bless others and God blesses you. How? He gives to you His peace. But note: this peace isn’t something that “just happens” to us. It requires action on our part.

In this context, Peter is talking about our taking the initiative to make peace. Remember, he was there at the Sermon on the Mount when he heard Jesus say, “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9).

That’s what Peter’s talking about here. This peace is something you work for. You seek it. You pursue it.

So you refrain some speaking unkind words to people because you know your words will hurt them. And, when wronged, rather than “paying back evil for evil,” you leave the matter to God.

And when you work for peace like that–you receive peace from God. You “love life and see good days” (1 Peter 3:9).

There’s another blessing that God gives to us when we are active peacemakers:

2) He Listens to Your Prayers

Don’t miss this!

For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their prayers;
But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.” (1 Peter 3:12)

This is powerful! Peter is actually saying, “If you will commit to blessing those around you and those against you, God will bless you by hearing your prayers.”

On the other hand, if you live like you did before you were a Christian, and if you say, “I’m not going to bless others,” then don’t expect to sense the closeness of God.  Why?  Because you’re living like an unbeliever and the last part of verse 12 says, “the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Remember that James says, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much (James 5:16),” the prayers of a righteous person–not an unrighteous person.

Bless others and God blesses you by listening to your prayers. I don’t think this means that God doesn’t hear the prayers of Christians who are not living as they should. If that were so, then who among us could ever expect to be heard?!

On the other hand, we know what it is like to walk in close fellowship with God, don’t we? We sense His presence. We commune with Him. We are talking to Him and listening to Him. It is true prayer.

This is similar to what we saw in a previous post on verse 7. Remember? Peter says, “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them [your wives] with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life,–[so that]–your prayers may not be hindered.” 

The implication? If you’re not the husband you’re supposed to be, your prayer life will suffer. You won’t sense the closeness of God and the confidence that He is right there with you.

Similarly, here in verse 12, Peter says, “Don’t expect to have the joy of communion with God if you’re not committed to blessing others; blessing those around you and blessing those against you.”

Christians are to bless those who are easy to love and those who are not so easy to love–blessing fellow Christians as well as blessing future Christians. Think of your enemy as a future Christian. It may help you bless him!

Oh, one other thing. When Peter says, in essence, “Bless others and God blesses you,” he is not pushing the popular “prosperity gospel.” Don’t think that for a moment!

Think of it like this:

Bless others and God blesses you–not by taking away your suffering. 1 Peter 2:19 teaches you may suffer wrongfully. But 1 Peter 5:10 says that God will strengthen you through your suffering.

Bless others and God blesses you–not with material stuff; a new house, a new car, lots of money. No. You may get some of that stuff, but the blessings of the New Testament are primarily spiritual: blessings like salvation, peace, contentment, and the blessing of “loving life and seeing good days.”

Why? 

Because that’s what matters most.