Guard your heart, your thoughts, your tongue, your actions.
Submit yourself to God and His ways.
Your opinions, your excuses, your frustrations, your perspectives, your priorities... all submitted and surrendered to Him.
Do all you can to let Him reign in your heart, mind, body and soul so that any suffering you do experience may be done for good and with a clean conscience.
It's God's work in me but it requires
cooperation from me. Cooperation with His Word and His Spirit in me.
Be proactive to let His Word and His Spirit IN so that it will be possible to OBEY.
Purpose to DO the action words:
LIVE... in harmony with one another
BE... sympathetic
LOVE... as brothers
BE... compassionate
REPAY... evil and insult with blessing
KEEP... your tongue from evil... your lips from deceitful speech
TURN...from evil and do good
SEEK... peace
PURSUE... peace
Be proactive...be strategic...be intentional...
1 Peter 3:8-11 (AMP)
8 Finally, all [of you] should be of one and the same mind (united in spirit), sympathizing [with one another], loving [each other] as brethren [of one household], compassionate and courteous (tenderhearted and humble).
9 Never return evil for evil or insult for insult (scolding, tongue-lashing, berating), but on the contrary blessing [praying for their welfare, happiness, and protection, and truly pitying and loving them]. For know that to this you have been called, that you may yourselves inherit a blessing [from God—that you may obtain a blessing as heirs, bringing welfare and happiness and protection].
10 For let him who wants to enjoy life and see good days [good—whether apparent or not] keep his tongue free from evil and his lips from guile (treachery, deceit).
11 Let him turn away from wickedness and shun it, and let him do right. Let him search for peace (harmony; undisturbedness from fears, agitating passions, and moral conflicts) and seek it eagerly. [Do not merely desire peaceful relations with God, with your fellowmen, and with yourself, but pursue, go after them!]
