The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.  Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.  Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.  As each as received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies – in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.  To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever.  Amen.

1 Peter 4:7-11

Christians must always penitently obey God so that we will be prepared for the unknown time when our lives end or Christ comes again (“The end of all things is at hand”).  The exhortations now given by Peter in the above verses give direction towards that end.

“Self-controlled” (sophron) literally means “to be of sound mind” and “to curb one’s passions” (Strong).  “Sober-minded” (nepho) literally means “to abstain from wine” and figuratively means to “be discreet” (Strong), “to be sober” and “to be calm and collected in spirit; to be temperate, dispassionate, circumspect” (Thayer).  God wants Christians to basically be disciplined, reserved, calm people who do not drink alcohol and thus lower their mind’s ability to think things through in quiet, mature, logical ways.  This is “for the sake of your prayers” because prayer which is acceptable to God is reverent (Matt. 6:9b; Heb. 12:28-29) and thoughtful (Ps. 103:2; 116:12; Matt. 6:7).  It would be very unlikely that any Christian who is drunk or “buzzed” with alcohol or who is undisciplined in mind and body in other ways would offer respectful, reflective prayers to his heavenly Father.

It is of supreme importance (“above all”) that Christians continue to “love one another earnestly.”  “Love” (agape) speaks of an affection for others which is self-sacrificial in nature (cf. Phil. 2:3-5).  It must be given “earnestly” (ektenes), a Greek term used by Peter that carries with it the concept of straining or stretching like one would do with a string on a musical instrument.  Our love for each other must persevere so that it survives any and all tests and challenges.  This enduring love “covers a multitude of sins,” and rightly so.  If my brother wrongs me, or I wrong him…and yet we both “love one another earnestly”…then we both will be willing to do what is necessary to make things right between us.  The wrongdoer will repent, the wronged will forgive, and the earnest love which prompted both of these actions thus results in God holding nothing against either party.  This kind of love would also motivate Christians to “show hospitality to one another without grumbling.”  To have people into one’s home, especially when you are offering basic room and board to brethren in need who might be strangers to you (Heb. 13:2), is an inconvenience, potentially a major one.  The only way to avoid “grumbling” over such hassle is to possess self-sacrificial love which perseveres to the point where you are completely willing to “strain” or “stretch” yourself to accommodate brethren in need.  Do we possess this kind of love?

Peter then speaks of each Christian receiving a “gift” from God which must be used to “serve one another.”  The two illustrations he subsequently gives show that he had both miraculous spiritual gifts and ordinary talents and abilities in mind.  The directive for any Christian who “speaks” to do so “as one who speaks oracles of God” likely refers to the miraculous gift of prophecy (cf. 1 Cor. 12:8-10); those who had this gift then, as well as all who preach God’s Word today non-miraculously, must give their hearers nothing more or less than God’s Word (2 Tim. 4:2; 2 John 9-11).  The directive for any Christian who “serves” to do so “by the strength that God supplies” refers both then and today to us using whatever opportunities and capabilities we have to aid those in need (Gal. 6:10), even if it is difficult.  Preaching God’s Word to others and serving them makes us good managers (“stewards”) of what God has charitably blessed us with while also giving Him glory through His Son, to whom all “glory and dominion” will always belong.

— Jon