1 Peter 4:12-13,16 (NIV) Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed...However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.
When we change our way of living, the way we do business and relate with others, people notice. Our friends may not like spending time with us like they used to. Our family may request the 'old you' back again. We hear the phase, "you're no fun anymore."
Change is always hard to accept. When someone we love and enjoy spending time with changes to the degree they no longer behave as they once did, relationships will change too. Peter is preparing his people, preparing us too, for that inevitability.
The wife of a recovering alcoholic has been known to say, "I don't know him anymore. In all the years of our marriage, he was seldom sober. Who is this man?" Friends we used to party with no longer view us as the life of that party. We are changed and they don't like it.
The reality is perhaps the change others see in us is the change they would like to see in themselves. While our former friends may avoid us, they will still be watching. Just maybe the look on our faces could interject curiosity; a spark of interest could be ignited. After all, you and I changed and it had to begin somewhere.
1 Peter 4
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