Daily Devotions
When We Bring Suffering on Ourselves
Reading for October 23rd: Luke 1
Weekly reading for October 18-24: 1 Peter 1-5
But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.
1 Peter 4:15
The teacher puts up on the board four words: Airplane, Truck, Car, Watermelon. Then she asks which word doesn't belong with the other three. It's pretty easy to see which one doesn't belong with the others.
Peter could be playing this kind of game with us to draw our attention to something we might miss otherwise. We know we deserve punishment when we murder or steal, but what about when we are a meddler? What about when we stick our noses into other people's business? How do we feel when we suffer for that?
We usually feel persecuted. Think of how often we get into trouble for being a troublemaker, and yet we fail to see ourselves as the problem! A preacher gets run out of church after church. An individual is fired from one job after another. A young person can't seem to "stay friends" with any of his peers. A sibling causes friction with every other brother and sister. In each case there is a failure to see the common denominator. Each person feels they are unfairly judged. They feel they're being persecuted, even suffering for Christ's sake. (Especially the preacher!)
Not every preacher that gets fired or every employee that loses his job or every young person who has few friends is to blame. However, if we find that we're constantly having problems wherever we go, it might be time to take a long hard look in the mirror to make sure we're not the source of the problem.
Father God, keep us from pride and arrogance that would keep us from seeing ourselves clearly. Give us discernment to know our own hearts.
