NOTES for Pe1 3:1-12

When reading those parts of the epistles that look like precise and unambiguous instructions for conduct, it is very easy to notice a multitude of errors in other people's behavior. But the main task in reading today's passage is to carry out attentively and precisely what applies to you and perhaps to pass over entirely what applies to someone else. In speaking of how relationships within a family are built, the apostle Peter probably expects last of all to hear from us phrases such as: “Well, now everything is clear; nothing will work until she begins to obey me,” or, “Of course we cannot be together until he begins to treat me as a weaker vessel.” Nor will our relationships with people imitate Christ as long as we expect everyone to be merciful and friendly toward us and no one to repay us with evil for our own evil. When reading the epistles and acting in accordance with what we read, we will have to begin with ourselves in order to see truly good days.