Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.  Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.  For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.  For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer.  But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

1 Peter 3:8-12

Contextually, the apostle has been teaching his Christian readers how to live as faithful, obedient Christians in the midst of adversity and trial.  Avoid worldly passions (2:11).  Keep your conduct among those in the world honorable so that you might influence them to become Christians themselves (2:12).  Submit to and give honor to the very governing authorities who persecute you (2:13-17).  If you are a slave, obey and show respect to even the masters who are cruel to you, and thus follow the example of Christ (2:18-25).  If you are a wife, be subject and be respectful to your husband, even if he disobeys God (3:1-7).  If you are a husband, strive to understand your wife and show honor to her even though she might be physically weaker than you (3:7).

Now Peter calls on Christians to treat each other in the right ways.  To have “unity of mind,” we must put God’s will above our own in all respects (Matt. 6:33), followed by the interests of others before our own (Phil. 2:1-5).  We must also have “sympathy” towards one another, the same compassion found in the love of God and Christ for us (1 John 3:17; Matt. 9:36).  Our love for each other must be “brotherly,” i.e., the same kind of love a loving family has for each other…for God’s family is what we are (2 Cor. 6:18; cf. Rom. 12:9-10; Heb. 13:1).  Our hearts must be “tender” toward each other rather than hard, full of pity that produces a willingness to help and be kind to each other (cf. Rom. 12:15; Eph. 4:32).  None of this is possible without a “humble mind” that does not think of oneself as “the end-all, be-all” like Diotrophes, who thought he was above everyone else and thus treated his brethren horribly (3 John 9-10).  Indeed, the only reason we ever “repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling” is because we put ourselves first like he did and want retribution.  To instead “bless” those who treat us badly and thus be the Christians we are called to be – and thus receive the “blessing” of our eternal reward and more blessings in this life – requires us to love even our enemies and want what is best even for them (cf. Matt. 5:38-48).

Quoting Psalm 34:12-16, Peter reminds us that God gives the blessings of “lov(ing) life” and “see(ing) good days” to those who strive to love others like He loves all, both saints and sinners (cf. Matt. 5:44-48).  Even though others might not do the same with us, we must still “keep (our) tongue from evil.”  Even though everyone else might lie and benefit from those lies, we must keep “(our) lips from speaking deceit.”  Even though we are surrounded by evil, we must “turn away from” it and “do good” instead.  Even though striking out contentiously to those who do the same with us might feel like it would help us and bring us peace, we must recognize that peace will never come that way.  Instead, we must “seek peace and pursue it,” even if no one else is doing so.

As both Peter and the Psalmist remind us, Jehovah’s eyes focus “on the righteous.”  The prayers of those who live like He has directed them to live in these ways are the ones to whom His ears are “open.”  However, if we join the ungodly by “do(ing) evil” alongside them and paying them back “evil for evil,” we can be confident that God’s “face” is against us.  May that never be!

— Jon