We read in 1 Peter 4 of two major things: freedom and suffering. The first is found in vv. 1-11 where he shares that we are free now to live “in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God” (v. 2). He explains how in the past there was this sinful lifestyle that we used to live in, things such as “sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry” (v. 3). These things “promise” a good time but never fully deliver. Consider slick marketing campaigns for alcohol commercials. They always show nice looking people having a great time. What they never show are people’s lives destroyed from DUI or women being abused by drunken men. They never show the next morning people lying in the floor with their heads over the toilet. Yet when believers don’t participate because Christ fulfills them now and they’ve been changed, people don’t understand and even think they are crazy (v. 4). Why don’t they get drunk or have an affair? They don’t get it. But the truth is, believers are free from this.
Second we read of the purpose of suffering once again. Peter tells us, it's not something strange that’s happening (v. 12). No, this is done so you might “rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed” (v. 13). Suffering will come, but when it does, there are to be no worries. Rather, we are to “entrust [our] souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” So we are to live in freedom from sin and recognize that though we may suffer, we are to continue serving the Lord, even in the midst of the suffering. May the Lord be with you today!