Download “In the World” for March 17, 2024 here.
REFUSE TO BE UNFORGIVING
Last month, a wrestling student at Campbellsville University in Kentucky allegedly strangled his teammate, Josiah Kilman. A week later, Kilman’s father spoke to the student body at an emotional chapel service. He urged the students to forgive the accused killer. “Forgiveness is a choice,” he said. “If Josiah was standing here right now, he would talk to you about forgiveness. It’s the center of what Jesus is. Unforgiveness? That’s a curse. It comes with things you don’t want, things you don’t need. From the life of Josiah, I challenge you to choose forgiveness because in that, we become the light of Jesus.”
REFUSE TO TAKE REVENGE
Today’s passage contains Peter’s plea to his readers not to take revenge or to repay evil with evil. He advocates living in ways that are above reproach, for that is likely to cause them to be on the receiving end of fewer acts of malice. Suffering may still come, Peter says, even if we’re doing good. But suffering will surely find us when we choose to take our own revenge.
- When have you been moved by someone’s tragedy? What did you want to do in response?
- How do you imagine that a grieving father might be able to call for forgiveness so soon after his son’s death?
- If you have ever suffered for doing right, how did it feel?
Additional Resources
Any videos or web materials are for your personal use. If you play any media files in class, be sure to have the necessary rights to do so.
- Traditional Playlist on Spotify
- Multicultural Playlist on Spotify
- Contemporary Playlist on Spotify
- Jeannine K. Brown’s “Commentary on 1 Peter 3:13–22”
- Theology of Work Bible Commentary on “Suffering under the World’s Authorities (1 Peter 2:13–4:19)”
- The Bible Project on “1 Peter 2:11–4:11: Suffering as a Way to Bear Witness to Jesus”