A quick walk by the self-help section in any bookstore will leave anyone swimming in a plethora of supposed solutions to life’s daily problems:

“Have a New Kid by Friday”
“How to Stop Worrying and Start Living”
“Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard”

1 Peter offers no instant remedies for the slogs of life. Peter writes practical counsel for Christians. He reminds believers that our salvation utterly and fundamentally changes us. Salvation gives us hope through the expectation of eternal life. Salvation gives us a new life through a holy way of living. Salvation gives us a new identity as God’s chosen people.

In Peter’s time, believers were facing persecution for the distinctive lifestyle of following Christ. Likewise, as followers of Jesus we live as imitators of Christ, and this maturity distinguishes us from the moral mores of the culture in which we live. Peter exhorts believers that whatever personal hardships we may face, or persecutions we may endure for following Jesus, they are not the measure of the vitality of our faith. Instead, trust in the grace of God that sustains, restores, supports and strengthens:

“what you are experiencing is truly part of God’s grace for you. Stand firm in this grace” (1 Peter 5:12, NLT).