1 Peter 1-5 (NIV) – Commentary by Camille Beary

Love the unlovable. Over and over in Peter, he tells his church members to love one another and to love unbelievers. It’s clear in every chapter: No matter how much they annoy, hurt, bully or attack, love them. The words in these chapters didn’t sink in until I thought about them in the context of confronting unlovable people now.

Most of us leave our families every day and go out into the world to our offices, classrooms, factories, etc., to work. And it’s basically for God we work, isn’t it? To be a Christian is to reflect God’s glory, and that is a direct connection to what we do all day long. Dorothy Sayers wrote “that work is not, primarily, a thing one does to live, but the thing one lives to do. It is, or it should be, the full expression of the worker’s faculties, the thing in which he finds spiritual, mental, and bodily satisfaction, and the medium in which he offers himself to God” (Letters to a Diminished Church: Passionate Arguments for the Relevance of Christian Doctrine).

At some point in your life, you will work with devoted Christians, nominal Christians, those of other faiths, of no faith, those who are filled with hate, resentment and bitterness, and whose spirits are broken or sick. The latter are in survival mode. They don’t want a God, and their goal is to look good, make you look bad and get the raise. These are the ones Peter is talking about.

How do you cope with this as a Christian? The good news is that Peter gives us practical advice on how to handle them daily, and Christ gives us power to carry that out. Unlike me, Peter never prayed that the unlovable one would magically go away, or be healed so he wouldn’t have to deal with him or her. My motives were not Christlike. Peter offers the following:

• Be alert, and pray (1 Peter 5:8). Pray for them, forgive them, and, most importantly, ask God for the power to help you forgive them. Talk to God, and listen for His guidance.
• Serve (give to) others constantly (1 Peter 4:10). When you are busy helping others, it’s hard to feel hurt or angry or annoyed at someone else. And God will bless you with energy and joy.
• Stand strong in your faith (1 Peter 5:9). Keep it by reading the Word. Talk to your prayer partners. Talk to your family, and pray together. Read something about faith.
• Stop worrying that your enemy is stronger than you are (1 Peter 3:14). God is in control of your life and of your unlovables.
• Treat them with gentleness and respect, not returning harsh word for harsh word (1 Peter 3:9).
• Above all, love them (1 Peter 3:8).

For Peter to tell us this over and over must mean we should seek and pursue peace with others with a deliberate passion (1 Peter 3:11). It’s no longer an attitude of pious Christian love but a command. Maybe God sends them to us because He knows we will shake off the hurt with His grace, forgive them and pray for them. There may be no one else in their lives who will do this.

Last week in church, Brandon Swoboda urged us to be the salt and light of the Spirit. Some of his parting words were about apologizing not once but many times in our lives. I think Peter would urge (tell, command, exhort) us to forgive and love – over and over and over – those who never apologize.