LIVING FREE; LIVING WELL
Micah Smith
Today’s Scripture: “For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves.” 1 Peter 2:15-16, ESV
Theme: Focus on living with godliness and trust God to work in people’s hearts.
DEBUG YOUR ACTIONS
As someone who works in technology, I’ve spent many days building new features and chasing down bugs - those small errors in code that would cause entire systems to malfunction. While working on a particularly challenging project, I remember finding myself frustrated with a teammate who kept criticizing my development approach without understanding the full context of what I was solving. My initial reaction was to defend myself and point out the flaws in their own code. But something made me pause and "debug" my response.
EVIDENT QUALITY
In software development, we often say "let the code speak for itself." Good code doesn't need defending - its quality becomes evident through its performance and reliability. The same principle applies to our Christian walk. Peter tells us that "by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people." Just as quality code proves itself through its output, our lives should demonstrate our faith through our actions.
FREEDOM, IN CONTEXT
Living in the United States grants us freedoms that we often take for granted – freedom to vote, voice our opinions, and openly worship. But those freedoms don't mean we get to do whatever we want. Consider driving: the infrastructure of our country means we can freely travel across the city, state, or even country.
FRAMEWORK
But that freedom doesn’t just mean we can drive however we want. There’s a framework in place to make sure that we can all get to where we are going and do so safely. We all drive on the right side of the road, we stop at stop lights, we use turn signals and brake lights to indicate our intentions to other drivers. In the same way, while the blood of Christ means that we are free from the penalty of sin, God’s Word gives us clear guidance on how we should care for one another and treat the least of these. Our freedom in Christ doesn’t mean we can just do whatever we want guilt- and penalty-free; it means that we live in a way where we’re continuously being reformed to live more and more in the image of Christ.
Make it Personal: Where in your life are you tempted to defend yourself rather than let your actions speak? How might shifting your focus from defending to demonstrating change your approach to challenging relationships or situations? Remember, our freedom in Christ isn't about proving others wrong - it's about living so authentically that our lives naturally point to God's truth.
Pray: Father, thank You for the freedom we have in Christ. Help me understand that this freedom isn't just about what I can or can't do, but about becoming more like You. When faced with criticism or misunderstanding, help me respond with actions that reflect Your character rather than words that defend myself. Guide me to use my freedom to serve others and demonstrate Your love. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Read: 1 Peter 2:11-17, Titus 3:1-7
Weekly Memory Verse: “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” Luke 6:45, ESV