1 Peter 1:13-25

Context: Peter has to explain to his followers that persecution and hardship isn't the end of the world. In fact it can actually strengthen the faith. He assures them that God gave them this faith as an inheritance and now God is using hard times to shape it. Now Peter tells the church that they need to be on the offensive with their faith.


1st Peter 1:13-25
Wake up and smell the holy wars, my friends. You are on the frontline in the war for your mind. Set your artillery toward the rising dawn, which is Christ and his never ending grace upon his return.  Keep fighting back that shadowy tentacle of evil that grips loyal children like yourselves. You were friends with this evil tentacle back when you were mindless peons. You two were tight. But you have been upgraded to the Holy Army. A Sacred knight of God's throne must act as such. Just as the scripture says, "Be holy because I am Holy."

Time is money and God owns the bank and the stopwatch. Make the most of your stay on this Earth, but keep in mind this is just a pitstop. You are not living for cheap tricks and trinkets that dissolve like cotton candy. This is an old family tradition that needs to be buried. But now you've struck it rich in Christ's blood, a sacrfice that is perfect and flawlessly executed. Christ gives nothing cheap. This present was set and gift wrapped before the world was on the blueprints (though God let us take a little peek at the gift). You believe that this gift gave up His life for our sake, but God gave Him life and a crown of royalty. Now this extraordinary event in history is our lifeline.

To sum it all up...since you have bowed to these facts about Christ and his gift leading to a love for others that is legit...LOVE OTHERS LIKE YOU ARE LEGIT. Love them like you mean it. You are not a cheap plastic toy that breaks. You are a finely crafted, time tested soul, powered by God's word. Unbreakable!

As the good book says,
"Humans are like carnival goldfish.
Our accomplisments are like carnival prizes.
The fish die too easily and the prizes get thrown out
But God's truth lasts through all time."

And this is the truth I am giving you.