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⁸ Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; ⁹ not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. ¹⁰ For

“He who would love life

And see good days,

Let him refrain his tongue from evil,

And his lips from speaking deceit.

¹¹ Let him turn away from evil and do good;

Let him seek peace and pursue it.

¹² For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

And His ears are open to their prayers;

But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

—1 Peter 3:8–12¹

1. “Be of one mind” (v. 8). A better translation of this word of instruction would be, “Live in harmony with one another!” The word translated as “one mind” or “harmony” is homóphrōn, which literally means “harmony,” “unity,” “akin,” or “together.” Although this is the only place in Scripture where this particular word is used, it comes from a family of words which is used often to denote the oneness or harmony of the body of Christ.

For example, in the Book of Acts we read, “Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place” (Acts 2:1). The word translated as “one accord” is homothumadón which is used some seven times just in the Book of Acts to describe the oneness and the harmony of the early believers who comprised the church.

God has called His sons and daughters to live in harmony with Him and with one another. It is His desire for us to be growing continually into a unity of the faith and a unity of the knowledge of Jesus Christ so that we may grow into maturity to become more and more like Jesus Christ Himself (Eph. 4:13).

All of us have witnessed the harmony of an orchestra when all the instruments are in tune and all the musicians are following the lead of the conductor. And many of us have been thrilled to watch an athletic team which is playing together with perfect unity as opposed to each player doing his or her own thing.

This should be the experience of our lives and of our churches. The oneness and the harmony which our Lord desires for the church must begin with us. The church is people—the people of God. When we are living under the lordship of Jesus Christ and are in tune with Him, we are in harmony with our brothers and sisters in Christ. When there is disharmony and disunity in the church, sin is present. The solution is spiritual not organizational. We must seek the will of the Lord together—and do it. Then there will be harmony.

2. Have compassion for one another (v. 8). The Greek word translated as “compassion” is sumpathé́s from which we get our English word “sympathy.” Peter instructs us to be sympathetic or compassionate toward one another.

As a pastor, I have discovered that on a given Sunday, there are a certain number of people in our worshiping congregation who are hurting and who need our sympathy and compassion. The ministry of reaching out in love to those dear people needs to be a part of our worship experience. And, of course, it needs to be a vital part of our personal ministry within the body of Christ.

The people of God should always be able to share their needs and hurts with one another. And we who are pastors of the flock of God should make certain that the right atmosphere and opportunities to share are provided.

In my opinion, that is why small groups are so important within the life of a church family. They provide the atmosphere of love and trust which encourages the participants to share personal needs and to “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2).

Paul reminds us that within the body of Christ, when one member suffers, we all suffer (1 Cor. 12:26), and that we should rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (Rom. 12:15). Indeed, that is the ministry of sympathy and compassion—the very spirit of Christ.

3. “Love as brothers” (and sisters) (v. 8). The word used in this text for “love” is not agapē but rather is the compound word philadelphos which is best translated as “brotherly love.” Of course, that is why the city of Philadelphia is known as the “City of Brotherly Love.”

Peter is certainly not suggesting that we should love one another within the church with a quality of love which is secondary to, or less than the quality of agapē. Instead, he is using “family vocabulary” which is so central to the teaching of the New Testament. We are members of the “family of God” and are brothers and sisters in Christ with God as our Father.

Our instructions to love one another as brothers and sisters in Christ are numerous in the New Testament, including the instruction of Paul to “be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love” (Rom. 12:10). The writer of Hebrews encourages us to “let brotherly love continue” (Heb. 13:1). In other words, philadelphos should be our continual lifestyle for brothers and sisters in Christ.

4. “Be tenderhearted” (v. 8). To be “tenderhearted,” eúsplanchnos, is to be “kindly” or “pitiful.” Again, it denotes the very Spirit of Christ. If we are to live for Christ, or if we are to allow Him to live in and through us, we must be tenderhearted. Our hearts need to be broken with the things that break the heart of our Lord.

One of the first Scripture verses that many of us learned as children was, “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:32). Of course, we must not only believe the message of that verse—we must live it.

Unfortunately, there is often a great gulf between our biblical knowledge and our lifestyle, between our theology and our actions. I witnessed a vivid example of this discrepancy while I was a student in a Chicago theological seminary in the mid-1960s during the time in which the infamous “God is dead” movement was taking place in the church.

One of the noted “God is dead” theologians was invited to our campus to debate one of the leading evangelical scholars of our nation. The evangelical theologian easily won the debate in terms of content and spiritual truth. However, in my opinion, he lost the debate in another vital area—that of personal conduct.

The “God is dead” theologian was a gracious, kind man who shared his material with an open spirit, while the evangelical theologian was a critical, negative, unkind, and sarcastic man who fought, attacked, and condemned. His lifestyle loudly contradicted all the truth he verbalized. (How tragic it is to know the truths of God and to live like the devil.) Christ is calling us to be compassionate and loving and tenderhearted and courteous—like Christ Himself.

5. Be courteous (v. 8). This word translated as “courteous” is philóphrōn, from the same root word as philadelphı́a—phı́los, or friend. It means literally to be “friendly of mind” or to be “courteous in our attitude.”

Again we are reminded that we are not merely to love those who love us, but to be loving and courteous to all who come into our lives—like Christ. The challenge is to treat others with the same courtesy and love that we would extend to a dear friend. And this must not be done merely mechanically or as a religious duty. It must begin with a “courteous” or “friendly” attitude.

6. Be a blessing (vv. 9–12). We who belong to Christ and are possessed by Him should bring blessing wherever we go and through whatever we do. To be sure, we live in a world in which we are often confronted by evil. Our natural response is to do evil to those who do evil to us. But Peter reminds us of the basis of Christian ethics and lifestyle: we should not render evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, we should do good to those who do evil. In fact, bringing blessing to others is a part of our Christian calling (v. 9).

The New English Bible has a marvelous translation of those important instructions: “Do not repay wrong with wrong, or abuse with abuse; on the contrary, retaliate with blessing” (1 Pet. 3:9). What a marvelous ministry God has entrusted to us. We should be on the offensive in bringing blessing to our society, and we should be especially aggressive in bringing blessing to those who do evil to us and to others.

Peter reminds us next of the fact that when we bring blessings to others, we are blessed ourselves. The goodness of God is a blessing to everyone. He quotes from Psalm 34:12–16, which in verses 10–12 encourages us to turn away from evil and to do good. That is a wonderful way to live—like Christ.²

This is an amazing passage of Scripture. Peter is quoting here from Psalm 34: “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth” (Ps. 34:15–16). This is a strong statement as it is given here in this psalm. It is something the Word of God has emphasized a great deal. God has guaranteed to hear the prayers of those who are His own. He has not guaranteed to hear the prayers of those who are not His own. The only prayer that a sinner can pray is, “Lord, I admit that I am a sinner, and accept Jesus Christ as my Savior, and ask that You accept me in Him.” That is a prayer that God will hear and that God will answer. Many people today have the idea that an old reprobate can live any kind of life he wants and then come to God in prayer when he is in trouble and expect God to hear and answer him. As the movies and the novels tell it, the old reprobate comes home to find his little girl sick in the hospital, and so he gets down on his knees and calls upon God to raise her up. How sentimental that is! May I say this very plainly: it is nonsense, and it is absolutely unscriptural. Let that old reprobate get right with God, and then God will hear and answer his prayer. It is a false idea today to think that you can call on God under any circumstances whether or not you are His child. My friend, He has not promised to hear the prayers of those who are not His own.³

They must love as brothers. The English language has a saying that ‘blood is thicker than water’, suggesting the special tie which holds a family together. Believers have a similar link, but through blood which is far more precious. By grace we are brothers and sisters in the family of God (1:17, 22). There may be occasions when we do not agree and even aggravate each other as can happen in any family. Yet the ‘tie that binds our hearts in Christian love’ should still be in evidence.⁴

1 Cedar, P. A., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1984). James / 1 & 2 Peter / Jude (Vol. 34, pp. 158–159). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.

2 Cedar, P. A., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1984). James / 1 & 2 Peter / Jude (Vol. 34, pp. 159–162). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.

3 McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Epistles (1 Peter) (electronic ed., Vol. 54, p. 73). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

4 Cleave, D. (1999). 1 Peter (p. 94). Ross-shire, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications.