One of my teachers always says, “Christianity is practice.” This means the more you do what the Bible says, the more its truth begins to take hold and change your heart so that you can regularly live it out, especially when faced with challenges.
The Apostle Peter here is encouraging us not just to be full of talk, but to be doers of what we say.
The aim of our lives is to grow into the full stature of Christ and glorify Him with all that we are and in all that we do. As He is, so we will become in this world. One of the ways we can achieve that is to constantly fight against our flesh and do what the Word of God says.
Peter here admonishes us to stay away from fleshly desires that battle against our souls. Each one of us has our own desires that war against us becoming like Christ. These desires, like the Apostle Paul writes, have become a constant thorn in our flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7).
We know we cannot fight these desires on our own.
That is why Jesus has given us His Word, the Holy Spirit, and His people all to encourage us and challenge us to Christlikeness.
With time, we find that the more we call out sin and expose it for what it is, the more it loses its hold on us. In the same way, the more we study God’s Word, pray, and live out what it says, the more we will see our habits and desires change. We will be more like Christ.
Peter encourages us towards Christlikeness so that nonbelievers “may see your good deeds and glorify God when he appears.” The question remains. How are we going to influence our world for Christ and show them which way is the right Way?
Many years ago, there was a popular slogan going around culture. It said, “WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?” Jesus’ conduct could never be faulted by men. Those who faulted Him were those who hated the truth and wanted to silence Him. Jesus came and lived the life we were supposed to but couldn’t because of sin. He came to show us how to live as the men and women that God originally created in Eden.
It sounds simple, doesn’t it? Live like Jesus, and everything will be alright. We know this isn’t always the case. When we maintain the righteous way of living, a life that is in sync with the Word of God, obedient and directed by the Holy Spirit, we might be mocked for it. Though this may happen, remember that we are called to be the light.
For some of us, our lives are the only glimpse of Christ that the people around us see. Like Jesus, let us live in obedience to the Father so that the world and the people closest to us might see, copy, and glorify God with their own lives.
If we say we are Christians, children of God, Christ followers, then we should live as such. Leaning on and imitating Jesus and being obedient to His Holy Spirit.
