Be Ready Always
You should be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you… 1 Pet 3:15. People need to know what we know. And when they ask you, you must be ready to answer.
How?
Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. 1 Pet 3:15, “sanctify the Lord God in your hearts”. Jesus Christ dwells in you. His desire is to change your heart and, through the Holy Spirit, conform you to his image. The results are a good conscience and a good conversation in Christ. These are your walk and testimony. When people can see what the Lord is doing in our life, they will want to know the reason.
If you know all the answers but your life doesn’t demonstrate that you are living by what you know, then what you know is of no value to anyone else. You must live it and be able to show others how to live it, by example. This was the charge that Paul gave to Timothy in 1 Tim 4:12. This way, you’ll be ready always.
Study. 1 Pet 3:15, “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you”. To do this you will have to study. 2 Tim 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God…”. You’re not studying to be a know-it-all or to impress people with your knowledge. You need to study for God’s approval.
Prov 15:28, “The heart of the righteous studieth to answer, but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things”. It is incumbent upon us to know what we believe and why we believe it. You should be able to reason with people. The wicked often speak with irrational, emotional reactions and responses. Their “study” is often limited to internet searches yielding only information to justify their wicked thoughts and behavior.
Study takes work, 2 Tim 2:15, is a weariness to the flesh, Ecc 12:12, and can result in grief and sorrow, Ecc 1:18. That’s why many people don’t want to do it. Charlie Kirk read 100 books per year to know how to answer. Like him, we should be ready always to give an answer to every man.
Stay humble. 1 Pet 3:15, “with meekness and fear”. Meekness is submissive obedience to God. Fear is the fear of God. It is not the fear of men who ask you for the reason, 1 Pet 3:14. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom, Prov 1:7, 9:10.
We are to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, 1 Pet 5:6. We’re not trying to win an argument and boast of our victory. We’re trying to “win” a soul to Christ.
Stand up under their accusations. 1 Pet 3:16, “whereas they speak evil of you, as of evil doers”. They falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. Make sure their accusations are false and not true, and don’t buckle under their accusations. They’ll be ashamed at some point.
Suffer if you have to. 1 Pet 3:17, “For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing”. They may not like your reason, at all. Prov 13:19, “it is abomination to fools to depart from evil”. And if they hate you, Amos 5:10, they may even try to hurt you or kill you, Matt 10:16-21.
Remember, Rom 8:17, “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together”. The cross before the crown.