-- 1 Peter 3:15
Explain yourself.
When necessary use words.
There is A HOPE within you; and within me. This hope is a person, and everything he is, stands for, has done, and promises. Peter calls it a LIVING HOPE.
Others should take notice of this hope within us - if it is there. I do not mean to imply that we are to drum it up in some way. Theatrics repel. Authenticity draws. And if the hope is real, there is no need for theater. If hope is authentic, it will demonstrate itself.
How? In what we do (and how we do it). In what we say (and how we say it).
LIVING HOPE within produces actions (and behaviors) that match our words; and words (and attitudes) that match our actions. The Christian life is an equation that must be balanced on both sides of the equal sign (=).
WORDS = ACTIONS
ACTIONS = WORDS
(If I recall 8th grade algebra, I believe it is the Communicative Property... kind of. Maybe it's part Associative, or Distributive. I don't know. What I do know is I've now led you WAY off track.)Peter tells us to ...always be prepared. Prepared to DO good... prepared to SAY good. (Not good grammar, but I think you get it.) To do so, we must train. We must train for actions and train for conversations.
This little blog is not a "How To..." In reality, we know "how to." Our problem is usually less a problem of "how to," but of "want to."
Prepare yourself. Today you will have opportunity to present hope... to reveal the living hope that is within you. Act on it. Speak about it. In doing so, you will find joy. In doing so others my find life.
God, you are my LIVING HOPE.
For now...
D
