Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. - 1 Peter 1:13-15
My Sunday school lesson this week has been about being immersed in God's Word. And while I don't spend enough time studying the Bible, it is really amazing to see how the Holy Spirit helps give you clearer understanding when you stay in the Word regularly. For whatever reason, these verses seemed to give a simple outline to live a more holy life.
- "Preparing your minds for action:" You have to study, to learn to gain knowledge in order to prepare your mind and know how to handle certain situations. You also have to prepare yourself for action. The greatest amount of knowledge in the world is useless if never applied. If you could solve crimes or cure diseases but never did anything about it, what good with that knowledge do? Prepare your mind and then use your knowledge.
- "Being sober-minded:" For me, this means being able to think clearly. There are many things that can impair our thought process. You may be overwhelmed by emotions of an event, a lustful evening with someone new, a period of anger that impairs your judgment, or the use of a drug that may impair your thoughts. Being sober-minded is being able to stop, think, and communicate clearly. For me, I struggle to do that at times when I'm stressed or worried about something else. It's not just drugs or alcohol, anything that impairs your thought process has impacted your mind.
- "Set your hope:" Why does the Bible always ask about "hope" and never refer to having a "wish"? According to the Webster’s Dictionary, the term “wish” can be defined as “a term that refers to a desire or points to something that one longs to have.” “Hope,” on the other hand, is used in a conversation conveying a possibility or an event that one looks forward to. The difference between “hope” and “wish” can be drawn in the sense of “hope” being backed by a reasonable confidence about the desire. Simply put, the main difference between the two lies on the probability or likelihood of a person’s desires. We wish when something is unlikely or impossible to be carried out. We hope for things that are possible and take on a huge potential to happen. (differencebetween.net)
- "Grace....of Jesus Christ:" Grace is God giving us what we do not deserve. I don't deserve eternal life. I don't deserve blessings in my life. I don't deserve a lot of things. But by God's grace he has given them to me. I can't go on too long about grace because it is so deep but simply put, it is the BEST free gift you can ever get.
- "Do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance:" How many of us have heard or used the expression that a zebra or tiger cannot change its stripes? While that may be true for the animal kingdom, it's not true for us as Christians. Remember that grace thing we just looked at. God's grace changes us. 2 Corinthians 5:17 is a verse that everyone needs to learn, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." It is my opinion, that if you are 30 something and still act and think the same as you did when you were 18-early 20s then you're ignorant (or were very mature for your age then, but most likely ignorant now). That's the freedom that comes with being a Christian. I can say that yes, I used to think this way, I used to act this way. But now I know better. I have learned, I have changed my actions, I am formerly ignorant, and am now better than I once was. It doesn't make me a hypocrite to be smart enough to know I was wrong and needed to change my thoughts on a topic, it makes me conformed.
- "Be holy in all your conduct:" When and where are you holy? Is it only when you're at church? Or at home? We are called to be holy all the time, everywhere, and in all we do. That means being holy in sports, in business deals, in school, in traffic, in everyday conversations with people. Being a Christian is a full-time job with you on call 24/7. God doesn't promise what the salary will be, but the retirement package is out of this world!
My Sunday school lesson this week has been about being immersed in God's Word. And while I don't spend enough time studying the Bible, it is really amazing to see how the Holy Spirit helps give you clearer understanding when you stay in the Word regularly. For whatever reason, these verses seemed to give a simple outline to live a more holy life.
- "Preparing your minds for action:" You have to study, to learn to gain knowledge in order to prepare your mind and know how to handle certain situations. You also have to prepare yourself for action. The greatest amount of knowledge in the world is useless if never applied. If you could solve crimes or cure diseases but never did anything about it, what good with that knowledge do? Prepare your mind and then use your knowledge.
- "Being sober-minded:" For me, this means being able to think clearly. There are many things that can impair our thought process. You may be overwhelmed by emotions of an event, a lustful evening with someone new, a period of anger that impairs your judgment, or the use of a drug that may impair your thoughts. Being sober-minded is being able to stop, think, and communicate clearly. For me, I struggle to do that at times when I'm stressed or worried about something else. It's not just drugs or alcohol, anything that impairs your thought process has impacted your mind.
- "Set your hope:" Why does the Bible always ask about "hope" and never refer to having a "wish"? According to the Webster’s Dictionary, the term “wish” can be defined as “a term that refers to a desire or points to something that one longs to have.” “Hope,” on the other hand, is used in a conversation conveying a possibility or an event that one looks forward to. The difference between “hope” and “wish” can be drawn in the sense of “hope” being backed by a reasonable confidence about the desire. Simply put, the main difference between the two lies on the probability or likelihood of a person’s desires. We wish when something is unlikely or impossible to be carried out. We hope for things that are possible and take on a huge potential to happen. (differencebetween.net)
- "Grace....of Jesus Christ:" Grace is God giving us what we do not deserve. I don't deserve eternal life. I don't deserve blessings in my life. I don't deserve a lot of things. But by God's grace he has given them to me. I can't go on too long about grace because it is so deep but simply put, it is the BEST free gift you can ever get.
- "Do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance:" How many of us have heard or used the expression that a zebra or tiger cannot change its stripes? While that may be true for the animal kingdom, it's not true for us as Christians. Remember that grace thing we just looked at. God's grace changes us. 2 Corinthians 5:17 is a verse that everyone needs to learn, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." It is my opinion, that if you are 30 something and still act and think the same as you did when you were 18-early 20s then you're ignorant (or were very mature for your age then, but most likely ignorant now). That's the freedom that comes with being a Christian. I can say that yes, I used to think this way, I used to act this way. But now I know better. I have learned, I have changed my actions, I am formerly ignorant, and am now better than I once was. It doesn't make me a hypocrite to be smart enough to know I was wrong and needed to change my thoughts on a topic, it makes me conformed.
- "Be holy in all your conduct:" When and where are you holy? Is it only when you're at church? Or at home? We are called to be holy all the time, everywhere, and in all we do. That means being holy in sports, in business deals, in school, in traffic, in everyday conversations with people. Being a Christian is a full-time job with you on call 24/7. God doesn't promise what the salary will be, but the retirement package is out of this world!
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