¹⁷For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.

A skeptical Christian once said, “If I am going to suffer whether I do good or not, I might as well do whatever I want and enjoy it!” Another way of saying this could be, “If I am going to suffer for doing good, is it worth my while to live for God?” If we are supposed to live good lives, then what’s in it for us? Peter himself asked this essential question of the Lord Jesus:

“Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.” (Matt. 19:27–30)

This may have taken awhile to settle into Peter’s thinking, for the benefits of following Christ tend to all be future-oriented. That is where hope comes in (see 1 Peter 3:15); we are motived by the long-term benefits of following Christ, not the immediate. By this time, Peter was an older man, probably in his 60s (writing around 62–64 A.D), with seasoned wisdom and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He says, “It is better . . .” Yes, it can be admirable to take full responsibility for one’s self-inflicted poor choices and consequences, that is, to take one’s well-deserved licks. However, there is something much better—and that is to “take” the suffering that is not deserved, that is, the adverse consequences directed toward oneself because of the good one does.

Yes, much of what Christians are called to do comes with short-term, negative consequences for our personal comfort and well-being, or brings hostility from those who oppose the cause and character of Christ. People will malign us, resist us, persecute us. In this fallen, sin-filled world, things will go against us. Evil envies what is good. Deception detests what is truth. Darkness despises what is light. And so, we experience the assault of the fallen world.

We note that Peter speaks of the experiences that God will sometimes allow us to suffer for doing good things. This does not always happen, so we should not be pessimists. But when it does happen, we are called to accept it as a good thing and endure it for the sake of living for the good of Christ. We can do this because it is the better thing, and our reward is being stored up for us.

Lord, help me choose the better thing when suffering for doing good.