Study Desk

You pray to God and call him Father, but he will judge everyone the same way—by what they do. So while you are visiting here on earth, you should live with respect for God.

Christ was chosen before the world was made, but he was shown to the world in these last times for you.

You have made yourselves pure by obeying the truth. Now you can have true love for your brothers and sisters. So love each other deeply—with all your heart.

Like newborn babies hungry for milk, you should want the pure teaching that feeds your spirit. With it you can grow up and be saved.

So, that stone brings honor for you who believe. But for those who don't believe he is "the stone that the builders refused to accept, which became the most important stone."

For them he is also "a stone that makes people stumble, a rock that makes people fall." People stumble because they don't obey what God says. This is what God planned to happen to those people.

Be willing to serve the people who have authority in this world. Do this for the Lord. Obey the king, the highest authority.

Show respect for all people. Love your brothers and sisters in God's family. Respect God, and honor the king.

But if you are punished for doing wrong, there is no reason to praise you for bearing that punishment. But if you suffer for doing good and you are patient, this pleases God.

This is what you were chosen to do. Christ gave you an example to follow. He suffered for you. So you should do the same as he did:

Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross. He did this so that we would stop living for sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you were healed.

Your husbands will see the pure lives that you live with respect for God.

Don't do wrong to anyone to pay them back for doing wrong to you. Or don't insult anyone to pay them back for insulting you. But ask God to bless them. Do this because you yourselves were chosen to receive a blessing.

Stop doing what is wrong, and do good. Look for peace, and do all you can to help people live peacefully.

But you may suffer for doing right. If that happens, you have God's blessing. "Don't be afraid of the people who make you suffer; don't be worried."

It is better to suffer for doing good than for doing wrong. Yes, it is better if that is what God wants.

Christ himself suffered when he died for you, and with that one death he paid for your sins. He was not guilty, but he died for people who are guilty. He did this to bring all of you to God. In his physical form he was killed, but he was made alive by the Spirit.

Those were the spirits who refused to obey God long ago in the time of Noah. God was waiting patiently for people while Noah was building the big boat. And only a few—eight in all—were saved in the boat through the floodwater.

And that water is like baptism, which now saves you. Baptism is not the washing of dirt from the body. It is asking God for a clean conscience. It saves you because Jesus Christ was raised from death.

But if you suffer because you are a "Christ-follower," don't be ashamed. You should praise God for that name.