1 Peter 3:10: For "Whoever Desires To Love Life And See Good Days, Let Him Keep His Tongue From Evil And His Lips From Speaking Deceit

1 Peter 3:10

[10] For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; (ESV)

The Apostle Peter quotes from Psalm 34 in this verse. We need to remember the context of what Peter is talking about in this epistle. He is talking about how we should respond to those who treat us with evil intent, reviling us. Our response is to not respond to evil with more evil. Rather, we are to respond by speaking well of those who oppose us.

Here we are reminded that we are to keep our tongue from evil and our lips from speaking deceit. What would happen if we were to treat our opponents with evil lips and deceit? We would be no different than them. Scripture consistently reminds us that the children of God are to be different from the children of the enemy. 

As a child of God, you should know that your behavior ought to reflect the character of your heavenly father. In an earthly family, children demonstrate the traits of their earthly parents. You would not expect to see a child who was adopted to demonstrate the traits of their adoptive parents. However, believers in Jesus Christ, adopted into God's family do, in fact, have their adoptive Father's traits.

Your words have power to harm others or to glorify God. This is why it is so important to keep from evil and deceit. When a non-believer hears your words, and they know that you claim to belong to God, they will make wrong conclusions about you, or about the God you claim to serve. Christians should be the most honest people our world encounters.

Are you known for speaking truth? Or do you bring deception? Ask the Lord to cleanse your tongue! Speak in such a way as to glorify God, and represent him properly.