This past Sunday, Ron, one of our elders, walked us through 1 Peter 4:1-11. In this passage Peter gives believers a call to action - to live your new life by the standards set by our Savior, Jesus Christ. These standards teach you to suffer in the flesh, always seeking to please the father. This is in stark contrast to the world's standards - live by passion. While the Lord gives us passions for things in which we are to seek to glorify the father with, the world's passion is different. This kind of passion is unruly, reckless and dangerous. The kind of passion that brought sin and ultimately death into the world. Believers are to continue to live like Christ, constantly looking toward the Day of His return.
Within these packed verses, I found that verses 4-6 touched on something that I rarely talk about, or let myself think about. When I began to live for Christ I lost a lot of friends. Not immediately, but it became pretty obvious that we didn't share the same interests anymore, and our priorities definitely changed. There comes a time in a believer's walk that they realize certain things about the past - the Lord may convict you to apologize to someone for a former wrongdoing, you may be called to witness to them directly, you may even be given the task of 'calling someone out'. Then there is a time that you are supposed to just walk away. All of these are to be done through the leading of the Holy Spirit. Ron told us that we are to pray for the people from our former life, and in my case, the people I don't ever see anymore. I realized I was harboring bitterness about somethings and against people I haven't spoken to in years. As a believer I seek unity with my fellow believers, by why would I not apply this to non-believers as well?
Fellow brothers and sisters, I ask you to pray for the people from your past life. You may come from a rough background, you may not. Either way, ask God to save the people in your former life. Ask him if there is something he would have you do - are you to share the Gospel with a certain person, apologize, forgive, or just walk away and continue to pray for them. Through all of this seek to please the Father, be lead by the Holy Spirit in your actions, and live like Christ. Because in the end, "this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does. (1 Peter 4:6 ESV)"
--C3 Member - Rachel Evans
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