Have you ever had a scary dream where you found yourself walking on a cold concrete floor down a long dimly lit corridor and you sense that you are being watched, you feel so restricted, the tensions mount, there is no one to help you and no way out. And whew, what a relief, you wake up and realize that it’s just a bad dream. For many, it’s not a bad dream, it’s real life, and it’s worse than that of our dreams or nightmares, it’s incarceration. Those found guilty of a serious crime are held in jail or for those serving a longer sentence, in prison. I’ve served in both prison and jail ministry and have had the opportunity to get to know the female inmates on a deeper level through Bible Study and one-on-one mentoring. I’ve heard their stories, their crimes, their cries of remorse and several pleas of innocence. One thing that I’ve never heard is that they are behind bars for sharing their faith.
I find it interesting that out of 66 books in the Bible, at least 24 of them were written from prison, from exile, or about prison and exile. Today, we’ll dive into 2 Peter chapter 1 and there is a possibility that this book was written from prison. In this letter we read that it’s written to “to them that have obtained like precious faith with us”. The audience was Christians facing potential persecution. Persecution is the normal state of affairs for a Christian. Not every Christian suffers equally at every stage and place in history, but Jesus spoke often about the need to be willing to endure persecution for His sake. Persecution and suffering in those days and in that culture was intense. It’s nothing like the “persecution” that we experience. And it’s in this letter where we find some incredible virtues from someone who probably knew firsthand how Christians in Rome were gruesomely and publicly tortured for their faith. Some were crucified, some were thrown to wild animals and others were burned alive as living torches.
2 Peter 1:5-8 "For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
This! This is the right way to suffer and it should cause us to think long and hard about how we endure hardships or challenges that arise from faithfully following Jesus Christ. We should be taking some spiritual inventory and asking ourselves if we are truly focusing on growth and on glorifying God even amidst difficult situations. Do you see suffering as an opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to Christ? 2 Peter 1:4 says,”. . . he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires”. We are partakers of the divine nature and GET to share in his suffering knowing that God is with us and that our suffering can ultimately lead to greater spiritual growth and be a witness to others.