Mutual Submission
MUTUAL SUBMISSION
1 PETER 3:8-12
If we want others to be different, then let us set them an example.
Just as in Ephesians 5:21-22, Peter sees marriage as only a special case of general relationships. While “unity of spirit” (3:8) is created by the Holy Spirit, it is far more than the one Spirit living in us all. If I do not try to find out what my fellow Christians are thinking, I cannot be one with them. If I do not discover what they are feeling, I cannot suffer with them, the meaning of “sympathy.” “A tender heart,” means having a well-balanced reaction to the situation of those I meet. I must neither be carried away by my feelings, nor deal with others purely intellectually. “The humble mind” enables me to honor others rightly (2:17) and by the fact that, like me, they are God’s children. If anyone objects that too high a standard is being demanded, Peter quotes Christ’s own words (Matthew 5:39,44). The “blessing” we obtain is found in Matthew 5:45. Sometimes we feel that someone deserves to hear the truth harshly expressed of what they are really like (“reviling”) or a dose of their own medicine (“return evil”); we should remember Christ’s words then (Matthew 5:45,48).
Peter develops the thought of the blessing by quoting Psalm 34:12-16. The two features stressed are a check on one’s words, ie not reviling, and turning from evil. The blessing is life, good days and prayers that are heard. When we hear complaints about discord in a local church, lack of love, and unkind actions and judgments, we would do well to look at the one who complains. Very often that person’s own life embodies the things they are complaining about. We may give them the benefit of the doubt and say they did not begin the trouble, but they have seen to it that the trouble continues.