1 Peter 4:1-6: a reflection

1Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind; for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2that you no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 3For we have spent enough of our past time doing the desire of the Gentiles, and having walked in lewdness, lusts, drunken binges, orgies, carousings, and abominable idolatries. 4They think it is strange that you don’t run with them into the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you. 5They will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6For to this end the Good News was preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed as men in the flesh, but live as to God in the spirit.

Peter puts it bluntly: you have spent enough time in the past doing what the old life wanted, the excess, the drunkenness, the emptiness. Enough. There is a decisiveness in that word. At some point you stop treating the old way of living as still an option and simply say, that is finished; I have given it enough of my life already.

Then Peter names something that catches many people off guard. Your former companions, he says, are surprised that you no longer plunge into the same excess with them, and they malign you for it. When you break with an old pattern, the people still in it often do not applaud; they feel judged by your change and push back, and the old crowd can turn cold or mocking.

Notice that Peter treats this as expected, not as a sign you have done something wrong. If pulling away from an old life has cost you the approval of people who are still in it, that is not a failure; it is often part of the cost of following Christ, who himself suffered. So arm yourself, Peter says, with the same mind as Christ. You have given the old way enough of your years. Make the break, and do not be surprised or shaken when those still in it do not understand.

Lord, I have given the old way enough of my life. Help me make a clean break with it, armed with the mind of Christ, and keep me steady when those still in it do not understand or turn cold. Your approval is enough.