1 Peter 3:1-22

Whoever Would Love Life

I love life. Of course there are times when it gets hard and I get tired, but what of that? Walking in the woods, standing by the ocean, watching the cardinals in the snow, playing with a young child, reading a good book, eating a good meal, watching a good movie, hearing a great song, playing a fun game, and of course being with those you love - all of these things and so much more make life a beautiful experience. 

When life turns bad more often than not it is because of what s happening inside rather than outside. Hard times come and go, but when things are going wrong inside unless something deliberately changes then it doesn’t get better. So, how do you go about making deliberate changes? What changes need to be made? What are we to do if we want to get back to loving this wonderful gift of life?

Here are three biblical requirements for loving life.

Don’t speak evil or deceitfully. It’s true. If you go around habitually speaking evil of others, even if it may be warranted, the result is that you will start to see evil everywhere, and this beautiful life God has given won’t be so beautiful anymore. If you are habitually intentionally deceitful then your life itself takes on a hollow distrustful sheen that seeps into your spiritual core.

Turn from evil and do good. This seems so obvious but... Evil can make money fairly easily. Evil can feed lust. Evil often seems to be the right response in the world’s eyes. All of these things are true and so subtle that we find ourselves ensnared in evil often without really knowing how we got there. If your life has become sour simply stop and try doing some intentional good.

Seek peace and pursue it. I am a United States citizen. I love my country and am grateful for the opportunities and freedoms that I have; however, I also am aware that we are a warlike culture. We try to pretend that we are peace loving, and many individuals are, but as a culture we have a chronic tendency toward war and conquest. This is one of the main reasons why in spite of our great blessings we rarely rank any better than middle of the pack in surveys that measure true satisfaction. Peace is worth pursuit and is key to loving life.

If we will do these things then we will be included in that group of the righteous under the watch care of the Lord’s eyes and to whose prayers His ears are attuned.