The person next to me on the flight told me she was nonreligious and had immigrated to a town that was home to numerous Christians. When she mentioned that most of her neighbours went to church, I asked about her experience. She said she could never repay their generosity. When she brought her disabled father to her new country, her neighbours built a ramp to her house and donated a hospital bed and medical supplies. She said, “If being a Christian makes one so kind, everyone should be a Christian.”
Exactly what Jesus hoped she’d say! He told His disciples, “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Peter heard Christ’s command and passed it on: “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God” (1 Peter 2:12).
Our neighbours who don’t have faith in Jesus may not understand what we believe and why we believe it. But let’s make sure there’s one more thing they can’t understand: the extravagance of our love. My travel companion marvelled that her Christian neighbours continue to care for her even though she isn’t, in her words, “one of them”. She knows she’s loved, for Jesus’ sake, and she gives thanks to God. She may not yet believe in Him, but she’s grateful that others do.
By Mike Wittmer
REFLECT & PRAY
Who do you know who needs Jesus? How can you love them for His sake?
Heavenly Father, let Your light shine through me.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
In the books of 1 and 2 Peter, the apostle Peter writes to comfort and encourage Jewish believers in Jesus “who are living as foreigners” (1 Peter 1:1 NLT)—known as the Jewish diaspora—throughout Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) and are now facing persecution because of their faith in Christ (vv. 1, 6 ). As a disciple of Jesus, Peter understood, for he too was persecuted and even jailed three times for sharing the gospel. The apostle most likely wrote his letters around AD 62-65 from Rome, where it’s believed he was martyred during Emperor Nero’s rule. At this time in the Roman Empire, Nero initiated a great persecution of believers in Jesus who were tortured and killed for their faith. Peter wrote to encourage believers in Jesus to live in such a way that nonbelievers would be drawn to Him—with lives characterized by good deeds, even though they were far from home and in difficult circumstances (2:12).
Alyson Kieda
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