December 21 I Peter 1-5 Beat Your Defensiveness

This letter is sent to encourage those under some sort of Christian persecution to continue to grow in the faith and walk with Jesus. We, in the US, know quite little about real persecution like our brothers and sisters in various parts of the world.

One thing we do know about is how to protect our turf. We all a good measure of pride in who we are - in ourselves. We are to take pride in Christ - as part of the body of Christ. However, we all have a measure of pride in ourselves. When someone chips away at our pride by making small what we are or what we do - or even points out a real shortcoming in what we say or do - we can become defensive.

Defensiveness comes from caring far too much about the judgment of others. We want to be people pleasers to various degrees. We get unhappy when people are not pleased with us. So, we get defensive and defend ourselves, sometimes by going on the offensiveness and counterattacking.

Peter points us to One Who had insults thrown at Him and reminds us how He reacted:

1 Peter 2:23 When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him Who judges justly.

There is only one judge who matters. We should judge our own selves by His standards. Let's stay focused on pleasing Him. If we don't please people by their standards, let's not be so concerned. However, let's treat people as God would have us treat them.