Because the early Christians were accused falsely of all sorts of outrageous behavior, Peter urged his readers in I Peter 2:11-25 to be especially careful to live such honorable lives that even their enemies would end up glorifying God. This calling was especially difficult, because they often found themselves in unfair situations that they were powerless to change, in which they suffered unjustly. Amazingly, God called them and calls us to endure unjust suffering and gave us the highest motivation for doing so: Christ already endured unjust suffering for us.
In the thanksgiving section of Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he recognized their faith and love, which were based on their certain hope.
No matter how bad things get, God is still working out his own holy will through seen and unseen agents.
After becoming popular and attracting many followers, Jesus taught about what we call the Incarnation, the Son of God becoming human flesh. The Incarnation...