1 Peter 3:10-12 For “He who would love life And see good days, Let him refrain 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 prayers; But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” (NKJV)
I love life. It’s gonna be another good day.
When’s the last time you felt that way? When’s the last time you WISHED you felt that way? Do you know someone who has that kind of consistent joy and happiness? You know, those people that make you feel good just spending time with them because they are always so optimistic about life. No, not the fake kind of plastic smile and rah-rah positive-thinking approach. I’m talking about the person who truly has the joy and light of Jesus radiating from them.
Our Pastor’s wife is like that. Just seeing her makes you smile because she radiates happiness and godliness on her face. Even the briefest of conversations with her brightens your day. My friend Kirk has the same effect. It’s almost impossible to be sour when you’re around him. I’m blessed with Christian friends who have this joy of life. It is a by-product of the Godly leadership in our church and a Pastor who, first and foremost, lives what he preaches.
Joyful and happy people. Are they “naturally” that way?
Is it just their personality? Hardly.
Without fail, you will find that the authentically joyful and happy person got that way by one path: obeying God. But to obey God, you have to know what He says. The Apostle Peter in our text tells us very specifically, “Do you want to love life and see good days? Okay, here’s how…”. He doesn’t preface, qualify or put conditions on his statements. He just writes it matter-of-factly with great simplicity and clarity. He lays out the requirements plainly:
- Refrain your tongue from evil.
- Not a big surprise. Who will deny that our mouths typically cause us the most grief? The Bible is very clear about the evil potential of the tongue. In James 3 you’ll find that you will be perfect if you can tame your tongue and will have control of your whole body. It is such a small part of us but can cause great destruction. No man can tame the tongue, it is evil and unruly, full of poison. We bless God and curse men with the same mouth. This ought not to be! But it is.
- Psalm 34:13 Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit. (NKJV)
- Not a big surprise. Who will deny that our mouths typically cause us the most grief? The Bible is very clear about the evil potential of the tongue. In James 3 you’ll find that you will be perfect if you can tame your tongue and will have control of your whole body. It is such a small part of us but can cause great destruction. No man can tame the tongue, it is evil and unruly, full of poison. We bless God and curse men with the same mouth. This ought not to be! But it is.
- Turn away from evil and do good.
- Peter has a two-fold command here. Turn away from evil, AND do good. Christians are identified by their good works and love towards other. But even more, they separate themselves by a higher standard of holiness. To the degree that we are worldly, we are not obeying this command. Evil has become acceptable and pleasurable in many forms of entertainment and media. We are so desensitized to it, that only the “worst” evil gets our attention.
- Psalm 101:3 I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; (NKJV)
- Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (NKJV)
- Peter has a two-fold command here. Turn away from evil, AND do good. Christians are identified by their good works and love towards other. But even more, they separate themselves by a higher standard of holiness. To the degree that we are worldly, we are not obeying this command. Evil has become acceptable and pleasurable in many forms of entertainment and media. We are so desensitized to it, that only the “worst” evil gets our attention.
- Seek peace and pursue it.
- Peace in the Bible is not like the world’s version. It’s not the absence of conflict. Godly peace comes from being in line with God. Sometimes that takes hard work and difficulties including confrontation. This type of peace is also found in a forgiving and patient attitude towards others. It is not easily or quickly offended and irritated. This peace comes with personal sacrifice giving preference to others over yourself.
- Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. (NKJV)
- Luke 17:3-4 Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, “I repent,’ you shall forgive him.” (NKJV)
- Romans 12:18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. (NKJV)
- Peace in the Bible is not like the world’s version. It’s not the absence of conflict. Godly peace comes from being in line with God. Sometimes that takes hard work and difficulties including confrontation. This type of peace is also found in a forgiving and patient attitude towards others. It is not easily or quickly offended and irritated. This peace comes with personal sacrifice giving preference to others over yourself.
I am regularly asked if it is truly possible to have a happy and peaceful life. Often the unspoken implication is “and can I have it with little or no effort?”. No. It’s takes hard work, commitment and obedience. But it is available. Peter didn’t say that we would have a chance, a shot, or possibility of loving life and seeing good days. He said “you want it, here’s how”.
Why? The end of the passage answers that. Because “the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” It is God’s nature to love the righteous. There is only ONE source of guilt, discontent, confusion and unhappiness: being out of line with God. If you are experiencing any of those feelings there is only one solution and that is lining up in obedience with God’s Word.
God’s favor is active towards the righteous, not passive. His eyes are ON you. His ear are OPEN to your prayers. On the flip side, He’s not passive about our sin either. The Lord is AGAINST those who do evil. He doesn’t just disapprove or dislike evil. He’s AGAINST it. That should scare you.
“I love life. It’s gonna be another good day.” Those words can belong to you through obedience and righteousness. The bad news is, there is NO other way to ever have this type of joy apart from God. The good news is, God is ready and waiting to empower all who humbly ask in faith and submit their life to His loving care and leadership. God promises us a love for life and good days if we obey His commands; then gives us the power to do it! That’s a good God!
Father in Heaven, what a joy if would be to truly love life and have good days consistently. You have shown us how and we thank You for that. Help us to tame our tongues, turn from evil and seek peace. In Jesus name, Amen.
Contemplation: Are you one of those people that other people love to be around because you love life and are so full of joy? If not, why not? Isn’t that the type of person we should all be? Is a failure in any of the areas discussed above part of the reason?
Application: Christians more than any other people should be full of joy and happy. Every day IS a good day no matter what circumstances surround us. We are saved. We are going to spend an eternity in inconceivable happiness with our God. Sin robs us of this attitude of joy. To the degree you don’t have this love for life, is going to be proportionate to the degree of sin you allow. Live life the way God say. Think about life the way God thinks. Speak about life the way He speaks. Give up your ways for His. Then you will be that joyful person everyone loves to be around.
- What is the most obvious Bible truth you have learned today?
- What change in your life needs to be made concerning this truth?
- What specific thing will you do today to begin that change?