¹³ Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? ¹⁴ But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. ¹⁵ Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. ¹⁶ But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. ¹⁷ Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, then to suffer for doing wrong!

1 Peter 3:13-17 [NLT]

Today’s passage for the daily bread entry felt rather timely to me. As I was reading this passage the first few times, I must admit that I wasn’t sure what God was trying to say to me. I’m like, “What is your message for me today? What is the point of this passage? What are you trying to convey?”

To be honest, the title wasn’t even the first one that I had in mind. The message only occurred to me as I was typing out the passages in the quotes section above. And then I changed the title of today’s daily devotional.

We Should Do Our Best to Lead Our Best Christian Life

I’m not going to sit here and judge anyone because I am the least qualified person to be doing that. And I’m not here to set some kind of invisible standard, or bar that we need to all strive towards or live up to. No. I’m here to tell you that I believe we ought to do the best that we can, each in our own ways, and by the grace of God to live our lives in the best way we can (and in a way that also honors God too). Yes, I am referring to the term, “Christian living”, or some would call it the “Christian lifestyle”. But from how I have learned to see it, living it according to the Word of God, similar to how Jesus has done it. God doesn’t expect perfection from us, so we shouldn’t have to expect perfect living from ourselves too. Because, come on, let’s face it, there is no way that we can do it perfectly, the way that Jesus has done it. No matter how hard we try, we will always fall short somehow, because we are only human beings.

But just because we cannot be exactly like Jesus, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be doing our best every single day. Every single day, we need to remind ourselves of what it means to follow Jesus Christ. He is our daily example of what it means to live a Godly life.

Something Bad Can/Will Still Happen to Us

We sometimes use this statement to describe what it means, “Bad things can happen to good people”. In a more specific way of putting this statement, “You can do everything right. You can try to live perfectly, and bad things can still happen to you.”

The biggest mistake that we can make is that we grow weary of doing good in our lives because every time we do our very best, something would happen to us in our lives that makes us question, “What’s the point of doing all this good when something so unfair still happens to me?”

⁹ So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

Galatians 6:9 [NLT]

It is usually when we start to question it that we start to give in to the bad and lose sight of the good that we have been doing, and also the reason why we are doing it. Galatians 6:9 is there to help remind us of the prize that is ahead of us when we persevere.

But even better, one very useful lesson that I have learned to help motivate myself when I am starting to doubt my own motivations to do good, is this statement, “Remember why you started this in the first place.”

And every time I start to remember why I started the whole mission/journey/mission/goal, I will stop questioning myself and my actions and I would continue to persevere.

Over the past 8~9 years of my journey, I think I’ve pretty much experienced the whole rollercoaster ride. I’ve started out with the motivation to do what I want to do. Then, I met challenges, haters, naysayers, doubters. I encountered setbacks and mistakes and failures. At somehow, I reached a point where I started to question myself, “What is the point of all these sacrifices and sufferings? Why am I torturing myself?” But as I continue to remember why I started this journey back in September 2014, I would remember my motivation. And then I would snap out of that negative mindset and then find a way to get back on track. This whole cycle has repeated itself a number of times over the years.

And then in recent days/weeks, I finally experienced that very first major breakthrough of my journey. Everything that I had been working towards all these years, finally, that very first step in the right direction! To me, this is the harvest that I get to reap, finally! I am so glad that I had not given up in spite of feeling really weary so many times.

Besides, when you have endured enough shit like I have, you’d get to this point where you will think to yourself, “Ah what the hell, I have gone through way to much shit to give up now!!”

Personal prayer for Today

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank You for speaking to me through Your word today. Thank You for using my life’s journey and experiences over the past 8~9 years as a way to teach me the lesson of not giving up. Thank You for showing me ways to remind myself to keep going during those times when I was weary and considered quitting.

Thank You for reminding me that this life of following You, or following Jesus Christ won’t be easy. Thank You for reminding me that I don’t have to try to be perfect as a Christian. Thank You for helping me to understand I should still do my very best every single day. And after doing the best that I can every single day, I understand that not everything that happens to me in my life will be fair. It doesn’t necessarily mean that I deserve those bad things either.

But when bad things do occur, I will stand ready to remember why I started this journey to begin with. I will let that be a reminder not to give up, and to not give up doing good (and good work). For those that persevere and not give up, they shall reap a reward in Heaven that is far greater than anything we could ever imagine.

I vow to give You all of the praise and all the glory. In Jesus’ name I give you thanks.

Hallelujah!