“For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.” 1 Peter 2:19-20

Dear Father, Peter places such an emphasis on the way that I live and especially on the way that I live within the relationships of my life. He urges me to do the right thing no matter what. It’s easy when a boss is overbearing or when the government is unjust for us to think that it is justifiable to fight back, to rebel, and to push back against it. Then, we wear the suffering that comes like a badge of honor when it was our sin that earned us that suffering. I wonder to myself how much of the suffering in my life was earned because I acted in a way that was out of line with my calling, when I acted in a way that was unloving and disrespectful. I look back at some of the suffering in my life and realize in repentance that I deserved that pain because I was out of line. Lord God, help me to simply live in my callings and to fit into my place. If suffering comes unjustly, I know, dear Lord, that you are watching me and you will reward me graciously with heaven and your loving commendation. If suffering comes to me because of my own sin, lead me, dear Savior, to repent of my sin and to fit back into my place. Help me, dear Lord, to do the right thing no matter what the consequences may be for my body and life. Amen.