1 Peter 1:14 - Printer Friendly

ESV: As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,

NIV: As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.

NASB: As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,

CSB: As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance.

NLT: So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.

KJV: As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:

NKJV: as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;

Peter continues to tell us how to direct ourselves in light of the reality that, by God's grace, we are His children and that our true home is with Him in eternity. In verse 13, Peter wrote that we should be intentional about setting all of our hope on the day when Jesus returns. Next, he writes that we must stop doing what comes naturally.

Everyone who is in Christ—who is a believer—has a before and an after. There was a time before we trusted in Christ when we did not know the truth. We did not understand. We lived in ignorance of what was real and what mattered. And so we followed our own desires instead of God's desire for us. And our desires were evil: to bring ourselves gratification and relief at any cost.

Now that we are in Christ—in our "after"—Peter calls us obedient children (literally, "children of obedience"). Something profound has changed in us. We have become heirs of God Himself. We are built to obey our Father. It's not just what we should do; it's who we are. So, Peter writes that we must live up to who we are. We must stop conforming to the pattern we followed "before." That's not us any longer. We must follow a new pattern.

1 Peter 1:13–25 describes how Christians—those God has caused to be born again—should live now. We must mentally engage in setting all of our hope in God’s future grace for us. We must choose to act as those who are God’s own people, rejecting the evil desires that drove our actions before we knew better. Our choices matter. Our God placed a high value on our lives, paying for them with the blood of Christ. Since God has made us able, we must now strive to earnestly give love to each other.

Peter, the apostle of Jesus, writes a letter to Christians facing persecution to comfort them with the truth of who they are in Christ—children of God with every reason to rejoice in their salvation and future glory in eternity. Next, he urges them to live like the holy ones of God they already are by obeying God now, loving each other earnestly, and placing all of their hope in the endless life to come.

This beautiful, profound, and challenging first chapter of 1 Peter lays the foundation for the rest of Peter’s letter. In spite of whatever suffering we may face, God Himself has already shown us great mercy in Christ by including us in His family! Jesus is our living hope. Our future is secure and endless and perfect. As the children of God we have every reason to rejoice, even in this present darkness. Peter then calls us to prepare ourselves to live as the holy people God has made us to be.

Some 30 years after the resurrection of Jesus, Christians are facing greater persecution for their faith. How should they respond? How should we respond to suffering today? The apostle Peter writes this letter both to comfort believers and to encourage them to stay strong. He urges them to put all their hope in their perfect future with Christ, and to obey and trust Him in the present, even in their suffering. Christ suffered greatly; now the Christ-followers have the opportunity to follow Him even in this, showing His grace and power in their hopefulness, obedience, and faith.