Phew…made it through last week with nary a death threat.
This Sunday will provide a change in subject matter in examining 1 Peter 3:8-12.
If we were to call this The Apostle Peter’s Guide to Living a Happy and Fulfilled Life…what would be the main thrust of his guide?
When we consider how he encourages us to live, we may feel hard pressed to see how being so others-centered could result in blessing. How do you think we are blessed by blessing others? Have you ever intentionally treated someone nicely who was treating you badly? What did you feel at the time…and what did you feel later on, and was there a difference?
It should prove to be an enlightening, albeit challenging study!
WONDERWHAT 
This doesn’t get any easier does it? So many times in my life I’ve struggled with trying to justify myself, defend myself, hold myself up to be something greater than I am. Often, I feel like the poster child for that old Toby Keith song, “I want to talk about me!” But it is never about a me — yet it is. In loving others, a bit of me dies but is reborn as something else. It’s almost as if, when I make the decision to “consider others as better than myself”, myself is changed into something better. It’s another in the series of great Jesus riddles– lose your life to find it, give to others and you’ll be supplied, consider others and you’ll be seen by God. Crazy and wonderful, crazy and wonderful indeed.
If Jesus is willing to risk dying, we must be willing to risk living