“Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator” (1 Peter 4:19).

Peter is explaining to the early believers that hard times will be coming. He admonishes them not to be surprised when they suffer because they are Christians. This world hates our Savior. If they hate Him, they surely will hate us. Peter reminds them that not only should they expect some suffering; they can still have joy in the midst of that suffering. They were not to suffer as an evil doer. However, if they suffered because of being a Christian, they could commit themselves to the Lord, knowing that He has everything under control and will keep them as a faithful Creator. Hank was a good basketball player. In fact, many believed he was one of the best players on the entire team. However, he sat the bench for a good bit of every game. Do you want to know why? While it would be hard to prove it, some believed that it was because Hank had such a good testimony. His dad wrote an excuse to the coach explaining that he could not practice on Wednesday evenings because his church had youth groups. Dad explained to the coach how much he appreciated his coaching abilities, how excited he was for his son to learn under such a coach, and that he guaranteed that Hank would give it his all; he could not, however, practice on Wednesday evening. It was so hard for Hank to sit on the bench and not play like the rest of the team. But in his heart he was very happy knowing that he and his dad did the right thing for the Lord Jesus. How about you? What kind of price have you paid for being a Christian?

For today: If you suffer because you have done something wrong, there is no glory! But if you suffer because you are a Christian, there’s lots of glory!