--- A mild temper and deep respect? ---
Do you believe you have followed God's command
to have a mild temper?
How about showing deep respect for others?
Written: September 2023

Are you one who asserts faith in Jesus Christ? If you do, do you tell it? Do you share your hope in Christ with people you know. According to Peter and the other Apostles, you should! (1 Cor 15:34)

Peter learned from Christ, and then, about 30 years after Jesus died, he wrote the letter that is now the Bible Book of First Peter; doing his best to teach the rest of us what he learned. Part of what he taught was this: "But sanctify the Christ as Lord in YOUR hearts, always ready to make a defense before everyone that demands of YOU a reason for the hope in YOU, but doing so together with a mild temper and deep respect." (1 Pet 3:15)

My experience is most people who have faith in Christ like, or even feel compelled, to talk about their faith. How boisterous and eager they are varies greatly from person to person. Many are anxious to share their faith, while others need to feel they have a proper setting or to be encouraged. As we personally consider Peter's directive to share our faith, it has been my experience we often undermine our own efforts when speaking in defense of our faith. Did you note from considering 1 Pet 3:15 what that danger is? For most all people (including myself), it seems far easier to try to make a defense of our hope than it is to make that defense with a mild temper and deep respect. Do you appreciate what I mean, and why I think it important? It is important because God inspired Peter to tell you it is important... To really consider what I say, and certainly to understand, please note Peter's words in the verse that follows: "Give a kind and respectful answer and keep your conscience clear. This way you will make people ashamed for saying bad things about your good conduct as a follower of Christ." (1 Pet 3:16 CEV)

Our "good conduct" in connection with Christ, in this case being our peaceful loving concern for other people, is manifest and demonstrated when and by our speaking "lovingly" to them about our faith in God's Son. To be clear: Peter said our good conduct "is" our loving and mild and respectful efforts to teach people about Christ. That loving-kindness (our obvious concern for "them") may do more to help the people we are ministering to than the actual words we speak in defense of our faith. Doesn't that just make sense? If someone is harshly barking words at you, is it ever encouraging? No matter how sweet those words might be, a harsh and/or unloving attitude will largely mitigate your pleasant words...

There is a reason why some people react badly toward us when we give witness to our faith, even when or if we are able to speak only precisely what we have learned from Christ. The problem we must realize is our words might offend the faith of another person, if they have a different belief. Can we really prevent that? We can't, at least not completely! We must, of course, be very careful that what we tell them is what we have learned from Christ. Parroting what we personally know Jesus said is the only way we can be certain we are not spreading lies we have learned from other humans. (Mat 24:11; Mat 7:15-16) Even if we sincerely believe such lies, we are responsible when we repeat them. Jesus did warn us! (Luke 13:25-27) But even when speaking precisely what Jesus said, his words did and still do offend some people. (John 8:42-51) That is their choice to make, however, just as it is for each of us! So, if we do know some people are going to react badly, why put forth the effort? Why should we lovingly endure their unkindness. Sometimes, and the reason you need to tell everyone about Christ, is because it's not really their choice either; at least not yet! And that's the point! You can help give them the choice; "the choice" that is the most important choice of life... (1 Cor 15:34) To be able to even make a choice, the person has to have "knowledge" of at least 2 options to choose from. If someone has no real knowledge of who Christ is, they have no choice of whether to put faith in him. (Rom 10:13-15) They remain ignorant. Ignorant people are incapable of wise choice because they lack knowledge. We must be mindful of that, as we hopefully remain aware of our own ignorance... Even those with faith in Christ remain ignorant to some degree. (1 Cor 2:9 of 6-10) In any case, we have no control over how others will react to our words, or even to the words of Christ Jesus himself. We do have complete control over how we respond! Just remember, their choice of whether to put faith in Christ is something we might be able to help them gain knowledge to make; and remember too, they may later change their decision about faith in Christ's words. (Mat 21:28-31) The point under consideration, then, is how we should react to people if they respond with unkindness to our attempt to help? When they respond with bad, even when we are trying to help them, what should be our reaction? That's where verse 16 of the scriptures under consideration, about our good conduct making them ashamed of their abuse, comes in. (1 Pet 3:15-16) We must present our hope while "displaying a mild temper and deep respect" toward the person we are talking with to help God awaken them; or at least, to help him warn them. (Eze 3:17-19) Remember too, if you have been careful to speak only the words of Christ, it is really not personal. Their anger is not actually directed toward you. They are attacking the teachings of God. There is no reason for you to get angry. [(Rom 12:17-21; Heb 10:30 of 26-31; Psa 37:1-29) You should never disrespect another person by shaking your finger in their face (literally or figuratively), by telling them God is going to "get" them; nor should you dismiss their faith as stupid. If you are judgmental, even in your own mind, they will likely perceive your hate. (Mat 5:21-22 of 17-22)]

Also consider: Do you feel and believe about Jesus now, the exact same way you believed 5 years ago. If you do, it might call into question whether you have actually been listening to him during those 5 years. Jesus taught us a great deal! Remember too: Christians live by faith, not by sight... (2 Cor 5:7; Rom 8:24 of 22-25) And what is faith? "Faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see"; or, as another translation expresses it, "Faith is the assured expectation of things hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities though not beheld." And where do we get our faith? Well, we must reason it out using knowledge gained from what we see in Creation, and certainly from the Bible and the words of Christ. (Rom 12:1-2; Rom 1:16-18) If we recognize and keep close in mind that what we have is faith and not knowledge, (Rom 8:24-25) and that our faith is generated using our imperfect powers of reason, where is there room for us to be judgmental or hateful toward other people? (Rom 14:4) Our own lack of full knowledge and need for growth also explains why your faith has changed from 5 years ago. What is truth is consistent and eternal. But as for us, in our ongoing effort to learn truth from Christ, we are all just a work in progress. Even the very best among us are just trying to learn.

I do have a personal example. One of my friends is an agnostic. As I understood him to explain, he believes in a power responsible for creation, but doesn't claim to know or understand that power. Practicing agnostics write that it is impossible to know the true God. They apparently feel, since we can't see him, we can't know him. Some people might condemn my friend's faith when he says he is agnostic. As for me, I personally see it as his "growing and developing" faith, which is what I realize I also have. You see, until recently, and when I first met him, my friend was a Pagan. Now in my mind, I always ignorantly thought Pagan was just a term to describe every "lost" form of worship; thus all non-Christians, in my mind, were pagans. Because I was interested in him as a person, I asked him to explain why he was a Pagan; and to tell me some about his is faith. It seemed at least part of the reason he became a Pagan, was because of some of the harm he had seen done by the churches. That is certainly a valid concern! [If the churches are wicked, what motive do they present for us to put faith in the lord they champion? We should still have faith; because Jesus himself warned about the many such false prophets, and he taught how to avoid being deceived by them! (Mat 24:23-28)] Because he was my friend, I listened and then did some research to educate myself, so I could speak with him intelligently about his faith. What I found is Pagans, like all religions, are a sectarian group who gather to worship their gods. They have a host of gods, with seemingly none of them in complete power or control. They believe there is ongoing infighting among their gods, with the disconcerting thoughts and concern being the warring of their gods among themselves might or even "will" destroy creation. When I shared my concern over the reasonableness of what I found, he seemed to seriously consider it. So, in our most recent meeting, he said he is no longer a Pagan but an agnostic. In the light of my own faith in Christ and the Bible, I consider that to be an improvement in his faith. Next time I see him, I hope to share these words of Paul as he addressed, what seems in my mind, to be a group with a somewhat similar belief to his agnosticism. Acts 17:18-31 ESV: Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, "What does this babbler wish to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities"--because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. (19) And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? (20) For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean." (21) Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. (22) So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. (23) For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown (or worship in ignorance), this I proclaim to you. (24) The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, (25) nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. (26) And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, (27) that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, [Note: God is near to every person who will listen to him, (Mark 9:7) because his Spirit is alive in the words of His Son. (See John 6:63 and Heb 4:12.)] (28) for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.' (29) Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. (30) The times of (such) ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, (31) because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."

Even as I claim and boldly assert to use my friend as my personal example of my good works, I do have to confess, I don't "know" for sure if I had anything at all to do with his abandoning paganism. My point is, I am able "feel" I might have helped him! One thing I do know for sure is this, if I had been dismissive and unkind, or even hateful about his faith in paganism, I would have surely removed myself from any chance to help. Most of us never even realize who influences us toward listening to Christ. Even if we do know someone we believed helped us, it really wasn't them: If you really and personally know Jesus Christ, it is because God first saw something good or worthy of helping in YOU: He saw that you were searching for him. (2 Chron 16:9) And then, He directed you to his son. (John 6:43-47; John 6:37-45) God is directing every righteous person to the words of his Son as our only hope. (1 Tim 2:5) "Who" God used to direct you to Christ is somewhat irrelevant. (1 Cor 3:5-9) Anyone who successfully helps another person to Christ has simply allowed themselves to be used as an instrument of God. The simple fact is, as we take to our heart the words of Christ, no matter where we hear them, our mind is being made new by our mentally processing or digesting the thoughts of Christ. (Eph 4:21-23) It is a personal matter between each budding Christian and God. It is God's work! (2 Chron 16:9; John 6:44) His one same method is to direct each righteously inclined person to Christ... (Mark 9:7) How we respond to the words of Christ, including if we ignore them, then forms the basis of our judgment. (John 3:19 of 16-21) Are you listening to Christ? In other words, really, are you reading the Gospels? ( Matthew, Mark, Luke and John)

Jesus was clear and simple in his explanation of how we can please his Father. (John 6:28-29) All of us who have faith in a Creator, as the responsible power behind Creation, must believe from what we perceive that a Creator simply must exist, and then, that the Creator we realize must exist must also be good. (Heb 11:6) If God is good, wouldn't He let himself be known to us? (Acts 17:26-28 of 22-31) Of course He would! The Bible is the only reasonable and sensible explanation of a Creator. The Bible teaches God is looking for all the righteous people in the earth, (2 Chron 16:9) and then, He personally directs each one He finds to listen to his son. (Mat 17:5) Faith in Christ is God's simple provision for giving us the everlasting life Adam and Eve stole away. (John 6:41-45) Their first sin took away our eternal life, before we were even born or had any say or choice in the matter. Jesus came to give us that choice; (John 17:3) as he said simply that whether or not we express faith in him is the basis or our judgment. (John 3:19 of 16-21) Many or even most people in this old world system are takers. They expend their energies taking anything they can from others. Many lie and steal and cheat and coerce under threat, to take anything they can get. We see herds of them flock into stores and steal everything. Such people have no real love and don't even know what love means. (Take comfort, all such wicked people are in the process of being destroyed by God. - Psa 37:10-11) Those desiring to become people of loving-kindness, however, are the individuals God is looking for. Jesus was sent by his Father to teach us how to have love for others. (John 13:34) Whether we express faith in the words of Christ is the demonstration of whether we are people worthy (or at least capable) of accepting God's gift of life. (John 6:28-29) Everyone else is dying! (John 5:24-25)

God's salvation in Christ is simple and beautiful and perfect. But, be very careful! Even though you have heard Christ's name all your life, you have likely never heard his simple and clear truth before; this truth granting eternal life. In all my years, I have never heard what I now share with you, from any of the many churches I've known about! Why; and how could that be? (Mat 24:15-28) It is because truth is distorted and hidden by all the religious false prophets in the world. (Mat 7:15-16; Mat 24:23-28; Luke 13:26 of 24-27) In my own case, even while imagining myself a Bible student all of my adult life, I really wasn't. A few years ago, something happened that was like scales falling from my eyes, (Acts 9:17-18) or like one born blind receiving sight. (John 9:31-33) I found that the life I had spent, imagining I was making a defense of my hope in Christ, had really been spent defending my religious doctrine. I had been deceived by one church after another to believe membership in their sect was pleasing to God. Let me tell you, debates in support of sectarian doctrine are seldom carried out with a mild temper and deep respect. Usually, just the rendering of hateful judgments that the non-compliant person is lost to God and/or will burn forever in hell. If you are an approved member of a sectarian group, what will happen when you gain enough Bible knowledge to realize one of their points of doctrine is unscriptural? Will they be less judgmental toward you? My experience is they will not. The preacher of one church told parishioners I was plagued with a demon of confusion. Another sect disfellowshipped me as an apostate enemy of our Creator. It was only after suffering much abuse from church membership and association, (like Jesus did - John 15:20-26) that I finally heard God's only later day command and turned to actually reading the words of Christ. (Mat 17:5) What I found is Christ warned over and over about false prophets like I had been exposing myself to. Now I know. Now you know! We need and can trust only Christ... Scales from eyes and sight after being born blind... (Acts 9:17-18; John 9:31-33) Religionists are very different from Christians. They study the Bible only in search of some new ways to take advantage of others. (John 5:39-40; Luke 10:20-22; 1 Tim 6:3-8) Because of seeking their own glory, (John 7:18 of 14-18) all religious people fail to be directed by God's spirit so as to listen to Christ. So, they never comprehend they would become infused with God's spirit contained in (or living in - Heb 4:12) Christ's words if they would just listen to God's Son. (Mat 17:5; John 6:63; Mark 3:31-35) Rather than directing you to read the words of Christ, Religionists establish glorious (in their own mind) sects with doctrines (their self made Law Code) of acceptable behavior, and then fight and fuss among themselves as they judge wicked, and/or lost to God, all who don't join to follow their doctrine. Most Religionists, then, seem not to be the people God is looking for. If that is true, He simply doesn't draw them to Christ. (John 6:44-47) Anyone not being drawn to Christ by God is dying! (John 8:24) Do you now understand what that means? The solution for each and every person is precisely the same, and so very simple: You must actually and truly listen to Jesus. The way you can safely do that, and know you are safe, is by reading the 4 Gospel accounts of Christ's life and teachings through from beginning to end. (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) That is your life. (John 10:27-28; John 17:3) God is making sure that simple knowledge, that "last days" preaching work about our need to listen to Christ, (Mat 17:5) gets spread all throughout the earth. (Mat 24:14) Not that everyone will submit to Christ, (2 Thes 3:2) of course, but everyone will hear! (Rom 14:10-12) If you are directing people to some religious sect of men, instead of telling them simply to read the Gospels for themselves, you are likely not having a part is God's work. (John 6:28-29) A most serious question, then: Are you sure you are having a part in God's preaching work, by talking about what you personally learned from Christ? The way you can impact others, and/or have part in what in God is doing, is by first reading Christ's words to build your own faith; and then sharing your faith with others. (1 Cor 3:5-9) And for sure, while making a defense of your hope, being careful to display a mild temper and deep respect toward all you witness to. This letter is for you! Read and reread Christ's words so as to know him intimately... (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) A wonderful goal, which shows respect for God's provision of life, while also taking advantage of that gift, would be to read one of those Gospels through, beginning to end, every day you are favored with life. (Rev 4:8) An hour a day well spent!

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