Welcome to Scripture Saturday!
Today we are memorizing 1 Peter 3:15:
…but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense so anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect…
Here is the amplified version…
But in your hearts set Christ apart [as holy—acknowledging Him, giving Him first place in your lives] as Lord. Always be ready to give a [logical] defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope and confident assurance [elicited by faith] that is within you, yet [do it] with gentleness and respect.
What is our hope in Christ? Hope is a heartfelt, joyful conviction that our short term future is governed by an all-caring God, and our long-term future, beyond death, will be happy beyond imagination in the presence of the all-satisfying glory of God.
Hope is not an add-on to Christian experience. It is part of the first things. The essential things. It is a vital component of saving faith, because part of what we believe relates to our future. It is impossible to be a Christian and keep on believing that your eternity will be bleak. Saving faith is the “assurance of things hoped for,” and such faith believes that “God is the rewarder of those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:1, 6).
When people ask you about your faith, what do you tell them? Are you prepared to give an answer that might give them hope and show them the hope that you have in Christ? We should always be ready for that but to do so with “gentleness and respect.” No one was ever argued into heaven and no one can be debated out of hell. We just need to give them the reason for our hope and leave the results up to God and trust Him for He is the Lord of the Harvest.
Have a blessed and precious day everyone!