1 Peter 3:13-22 (NRSV)
Read 1 Peter 3:13-22 on biblegateway.com
Verse 13Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? Verse 14But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, Verse 15but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you;
Verse 16yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. Verse 17For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God's will, than to suffer for doing evil.
Verse 18For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, Verse 19in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, Verse 20who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.
Verse 21And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you-not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Verse 22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.
Devotion
The author of 1 Peter continues to encourage the faithful: No matter what trials we may endure we are not to be intimidated. We trust that Jesus lived and died for all of us. And if we are to suffer, may it be for good rather than evil, remembering that Jesus Christ sacrificed his life so that we may be alive in the Holy Spirit.
Every time I have the honor of baptizing someone, I lift up the sacrifice of our resurrected Lord. I want all gathered, including the one being baptized, to feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. With the loving and guiding presence of the Spirit with us, we are empowered to go out into our communities to be God’s agents for good in this world.
Prayer
Ever present God, help us to feel secure in your will. Help us to remember to live daily in our baptismal blessing as your Spirit guides us to reach out to those who need Christ’s forgiving love. Amen.
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