“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment,
such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather,
it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet
spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” – 1 Peter 3:3-4 NIV
These verses should apply to every follower
of Jesus Christ, as God looks inside of us rather than outside, for He states, “… The Lord does not look at the things
people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at
the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) This is because if we have committed
ourselves to follow Jesus Christ until the end of the age, then our job should
be evangelizing people to Him, as He is the way of the life and the truth (John 14:6). In other words, we should
always be the light of Jesus Christ to every body (Matthew 5:14-16), especially to
non-believers if we are going to continue follow Him and receive the eternal
life at the end of the age (Matthew 16:24-27). In addition, being the
light of Jesus is a part of the Great Commission that all of us ought to do. For
this reason, the word of God proclaims,
We are therefore
Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us… (2 Corinthians 5:20)
This is how love
is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of
judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. (1 John 4:17)
Because of these, all of us should have “a gentle and quiet spirit,” like Jesus
Christ has been having. If we have this kind of spirit inside of us, then we
basically have entered His rest, for He says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in
heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:29) In addition, this kind of
spirit produces a fruit of the Spirit of God (Galatians 5:22-23) Furthermore, the word of
God proclaims, “Blessed are those who are
gentle. They will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5) This does not mean that we
will be the emperor or a king of the whole earth. However, this verse could
probably mean, ‘because of our gentleness, we have the right to be blessed by
God more than others.’ In addition to this, we would have the right to call ourselves
the children of God, for Jesus declares, “Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9) This is because gentleness
produces peace as “… the wisdom from
above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and
willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no
favoritism and is always sincere.” (James 3:17)
Therefore, since we are individual member
of Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 12:27)—let us work on our
spirit to be gentle and quiet, for the word of God urges, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one
body you were called to peace…” (Colossians 3:15) If we do this, we can be
honored by God forevermore, for the word of God states, “Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a
gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” (1 Peter 3:4)
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