²⁵For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

Remember, Peter is writing to persecuted, displaced believers who were going through tremendous trials. They were forced from their homes, and their lives were threatened. Besides this, they struggled with relationships, just like we all do, both among themselves and with their persecutors. Peter’s counsel to see Jesus as our model to follow in dealing with difficulties is otherworldly. That is, the responses he advocates do not come to us naturally. That’s because our natural bent is to stray from God’s ways. Fallenness affects not only the physical world but also the hearts of unrepentant sinners—which is what we believers used to be. Things have changed; we have come back to God.

In our struggles, it is good to know that our Lord is the Shepherd of our souls. How many have found solace and comfort in trials by remembering the Psalm of the Good Shepherd? Children memorize it; adults recite it:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Ps. 23)

He who would leave the flock of ninety-nine to find one lost sheep will certainly be with us as we attempt to be like Him in the face of death. Will He not also shepherd us in the lesser tasks of loving our enemies, as well as loving our fellow Christians who make life difficult? Let them do what they want, but we can respond from the security of being carried like lambs on His shoulders.

The Lord Jesus Christ is also the Guardian of our souls. Peter tells us later that we should guard ourselves against theological error, but this is in the context of our Lord being our Guardian. We can do nothing for ourselves apart from what He has done and is doing for us. So as we believe Him to be our Guardian, we then keep in step with Him and thus guard ourselves. What greater security is there than this, and what greater confidence can we have than to guard ourselves from within this secure position? Therefore, we can confidently and securely act like Christ within our conflicts!

Lord, what confidence You give me as my Shepherd and Guardian.