Reflections

“But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about this hope you possess. Yet do it with courtesy and respect, keeping a good conscience,…” (1 Peter 3:15-16a). We are called to set Christ as Lord, not as a lord among many or several in our hearts, but as the Lord. He is to be our only Lord (master is another word for it). And when we do that, when Christ is indeed the Lord or Master of our hearts, we will find our lives transformed. He through the work of the Spirit will change attitudes, hopes, desires and the manner of living we have. That will lead to others asking why we are different (maybe even peculiar) about us. We then need to be ready to tell others what is different in us and for us- Christ is our Lord, and in Him we have a hope and a life that endures beyond this life, beyond the grave. Our world wants to make Christ go away. He is a threat to the world’s pursues and desires. But the world’s way leads to death. We have Christ and in Him we have life that leads to life eternal and abundant in hope, peace, joy and love. Those things the world craves but cannot find. They are looking in all the wrong places. We need to direct others to Him, the only right place. But we need to do this gently, with courtesy and respect. Just because the world is blind does not mean the people in it are not made in the image of God. As such they are to be treated as such and with prayer and gentleness led to see in us what they need and desire- life.