What does 1 Peter 4:13 mean?

The previous verse warned Christians not to be shocked when suffering comes to them. Now, Peter gives a very strange instruction: rejoice. To say the least, the idea of choosing to rejoice in the face of hardship sounds strange to human ears. And yet, this is consistent with everything Peter has written up to this point.

Before we were in Christ, our lives were meaningless (1 Peter 1:18). In Christ, our lives have meaning and great significance, because Christ's life has meaning and great significance. A day is coming when all of Christ's glory will be revealed to the universe. His full worth will become obvious to all. By extension, our lives will be shown to be meaningful and worthwhile on that day as well. And to the extent that we have suffered for Him, we will have that much more joy and gladness on that day (Romans 8:17).

We don't yet fully understand the significance of that moment—how could we? However, we do understand that it is the moment that all of human history has been leading up to. We take by faith that suffering for Christ now will contribute to our joy then. This allows believers to consider suffering for Christ's sake a thing worth rejoicing in—even while we undoubtedly would prefer it to stop.