Christ-Like Life – 1 Peter 3:8-12

1 Peter 3:8-12: “Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. ⁹Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.¹⁰For,
“Whoever would love life
and see good days
must keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from deceitful speech.
¹¹He must turn from evil and do good;
he must seek peace and pursue it.
¹²For 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.”

This week we take a look at some what Peter says about the look of a Christ-centered life.  In summary, his Big Idea is that a Christ-Centered life looks like Christ. Seems pretty obvious right?  Peter breaks this down a little more and points out 6 attributes that characterize a Christ-centered life.

1. Unity – This isn’t the first time that Peter talks about unity.  Look back a few weeks and we’ll see that in 2:10-12, he focuses on the fact that we are a unified people.  Remember too that we are called in 2 Corinthians the “body” of Christ.  Each individual has his/her own unique and equally important role to play.  It’s important to remember that we are all unified by the bond we share in the love of Christ.  It’s a bond that reaches deeper than any sports team or club, it’s a unique bond that makes us family with one another.  Look at Philippians 2.  Paul writes here and says “make my joy complete by having the same mind…” In the ESV, we see the same words about being “like-minded” right here in Peter.  This doesn’t mean finish each other’s sentences or laugh at the same jokes.  It means that we, as a body, have our priorities in the same place and our focus on Christ.

2. Sympathy - We are to be sympathetic to our brothers and sisters.  Sometimes sympathy doesn’t come naturally, and just like love, it has to be a choice.  The best picture of sympathy comes from scripture.  Romans 12:14-16 & 1 Cor. 12:21-26 push the same point; that we should share in the experiences that our family members in Christ experience.  Mourn with those who mourn, and rejoice with those who rejoice.  If you’ve ever been in the center of that situation, you know that it really helps to have someone who shares your pain, or who can share in your joy.

3. Brotherly Love – This attribute stems back to our relationship with each other as family.  This word “philos” is only used in reference to Christians here in the New Testament.  We love each other because we first were loved by Christ.  Because of our relationship with Jesus, we have an understanding of what it is to genuinely love, and that is a love that we should share with our family in Christ.

4. Compassion – Compassion here is really related to sympathy.  Sympathy is something that we choose to share with our Christian family, but compassion is something that we should demonstrate to everyone.  We need to guard ourselves against complacency and remember that Christ came into this world and died for the entire population.  Everyone is loved by God, and everyone should be loved by us.

5. Humility – Humility is an essential component of the Christian life.  If we look back at Philippians 2, we see a wonderful description of Jesus that includes this: “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!” Christ was humble and as a model for our behavior, we too should be humble.  In addition, it’s impossible to show sympathy, among other things, when selfishness is present since sympathy, by definition, requires placing someone else above yourself.

6. Forgiveness – The rest of this scripture after verse 8 is more focused on forgiveness.  Forgiveness is what all these other traits wrap up into.  We forgive because we were first forgiven by God through Jesus.  A grudge is a burden, and forgiveness is a refusal to carry the weight of that burden around with you.  But without a humble heart, without a sympathetic and compassionate spirit, without love, forgiveness is not possible.

The most important thing to take away from this is not a checklist of qualities to make sure your life illustrates.  This is a list of evidence that should be present in the presence of a transformed heart.  Experiencing Jesus is a transforming power that fundamentally alters the heart and naturally produces the character traits of a Christian life.  A Christ-centered life simply looks like Christ.