Relationships, Relationships, Relationships
5 min read
“12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
— 1 Peter 3:12
When reading this verse, our tendency may be to think about our bad habits. Being righteous obviously does include the realm of our habits, but the context of this passage tells us that Peter is talking about our relationships—wives with husbands, husbands with wives, and everyone toward one another. And we must not miss the point that Peter is talking to Christians.
Being righteous is demonstrated by adorning ourselves with a “gentle and quiet spirit” toward one another (verse 4), being considerate and respectful toward those who are “weaker” (verse 7), loving one another and not being vengeful (verses 8-9).
And when we make a good-faith effort in our lives to promote unity, harmony, and peace, God will listen to our prayers. If we don’t, the Lord will be against us.
These are the BASIC principles of our walk of faith (brothers and sisters in Christ). But just because these principles are basic doesn’t mean that they are easy to live out. We should consider, though, that nothing that is worthwhile in this world is easy to do. We all know how to “make every effort” to achieve the goals we set for ourselves. How much better would it be for us to “make every effort” to achieve the goals that God has set for us.
Because these principles are not easy to live out, we must constantly remind ourselves and one another that the principles of godliness are about relationships, not habits. Again, good habits are good. But even if we are faithfully doing our QT, never missing a Sunday, serving diligently, attending every Bible study and prayer meeting, going on missions, and even if we are resisting bad habits, if we are not tending to our relationships, God will not tend to our prayers.
And because these principles are easy to forget and forgo, many churches end up focusing on the habits. When a church emphasizes the habits instead of constantly being reminded to love, that church is just an empty husk, and it will die sooner or later.
And that is the tragedy of so many churches today. Many Christian leaders are alarmed by the exodus of young people out of our churches. Why wouldn’t they leave when all they see are “practices” with no meaning and “do’s and don’ts” that seem to exist just to control them? This is what they sneer at as “religion.”
They don’t realize that religion is good and powerful and meaningful when it is practiced in the love of Christ. And they don’t realize that truth because they’ve never seen it and they’ve never been taught it. Constantly.
BASIC faith will bring brothers and sisters in Christ closer to Him and closer to one another for His glory and for our joy. Let’s keep it BASIC, Canvas. That is how we will renew the hope of Christ and His church in the South Bay!
Father You are good. Your lovingkindness, faithfulness, and mercy endure forever. Let Your goodness be spliced into our Canvas DNA and show us the power of Your love. In Jesus’s name. Amen.