Live under self-control, be loving to others - clear themes of today’s reading.  Peter also encourages us to use our unique gifts to bless others, that we are stewards of the blessings we’ve received.  I love that, in verse 10, “...as good stewards of God’s varied grace”, just a wonderful phrasing in the ESV.  And then Peter gets to some of the suffering theme...specifically, suffering as a Christian.  Now, one thing I say is that most of the people that would potentially read this probably don’t have to worry about this; here in American, I really don’t know that I have seen or really even heard of a lot of suffering for being a Christian.  I am sure it happens, but thankfully we don’t see the real persecution that Peter and the folks of this time saw here in America.  That said, there are still sufferings as Christians...just different ones.  How about a lifestyle you had, and friends associated with that lifestyle, and all of the sudden you realize you need to go in a different direction with your life?  They may not ‘persecute’ you, but you will no doubt struggle and suffer when making that change.  That’s a tough deal.  You thing about persecution is that it comes at you and you just have no choice but to take it on.  With what I am talking about, one of the challenges is that you have to decide to turn and face it...and that’s difficult.  You can become subject to a sort of social persecution that you didn’t want but that often is triggered with your choice to change.

Regardless, there is encouragement here...Peter reminds us that God is with us in that struggle.  God is asking us to trust Him with our soul and spirit.  That’s a strong encouragement this morning.

So I kind of ended my reading with two questions in mind for myself to consider:

Great questions to wrap up the reading this morning.