Maybe that's why Peter says what he does in verse 17. In my continuing reading, this verse just hangs there at the end of another phrase. What he says is that it is better that we suffer for doing what is right, rather than for doing what is wrong.<\/p>\n
Kind of sounds like one of those things parents say to kids to get them to behave, or explain why they should not do something bad. [more]<\/p>\n
On the face of it, it sounds like doing the "right thing" is going to cost us something. Something worse than any punishment (bad treatment, people not wanting to be around us, not getting invited to parties, etc.) that could be heaped on us for doing something wrong. Kind of makes me wonder what Peter saw going on around him, but you just have to go back to the beginning of the letter to understand.<\/p>\n
The challenge here in this verse (I Peter 3:17) is the summation of verses 13-16. We are to not be afraid of the punishment for doing what is right, but rather fear the punishment for not<\/em> doing what is right. You know, that gut feeling you get when you passed by someone being mistreated (and you didn't say a word), or the stranger who needed money or clothes or food and you didn't help.<\/p>\n How about all those "heroes" who rushed into flaming buildings or to the scene of an accident and "helped" because they "felt" it was the right thing to do. They were put there for some reason that they could not explain, and did the right thing. It cost some of them their lives (physically or emotionally), or friends or family. God sometimes has to push us to the front of a crowd so that we can speak out. Other times, we go kicking and screaming. When we do what is right, we give, by our actions "an account for the hope in us. (what we believe)" It is our witness for Him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Maybe that's why Peter says what he does in verse 17. In my continuing reading, this verse just hangs there at the end of another phrase. What he says is that it is better that we suffer for doing what…
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