‘According as each has received a gift, ministering it among yourselves, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God; if any man speaks, as it were oracles of God; if any man ministers, as of the strength which God supplies,'

The same earnest love will also ensure our right use of whatever gifts God has given us. Having received gifts through the loving compassion and unmerited goodness of God, we are to dispense them with loving compassion and goodness. We are to use them as good stewards (those who are managing Someone else's goods wisely), with our thoughts not being on our own status and reputation and benefit, but only on making the best use of such gifts to bring the greatest blessing to many. Our concern is to be to serve others.

We can compare Jesus' words to Peter and the other disciples, ‘Who then is that faithful and wise steward whom his Lord has set over his household?' (Luke 12:42). And the responsibility of that steward is to ‘give them their portion of food in due season'. There it very much applies to those set over the church of God as they live in the light of His coming, but is finally an injunction to all servants. Here in Peter all are seen as stewards, for all have received some gift from God.

Such ‘gifts' were widely defined. See for example Romans 12:6. And they covered all Christians. There were two ways in which they could express themselves. Firstly in words and secondly in actions. The two together make up the way in which we live our lives.

Thus when we speak, whether publicly or privately, we must ensure that we do so as from God, ensuring that we are fully in tune with Him and that we do it through the power and enduement that He has given. We should note here that the verb refers to ‘speaking', words that come from the mouth. It does not just mean public speaking, although the word can be used of that. It means that all our conversation should be such that it comes to people as from God, through the Spirit, and should constantly have in mind the blessing of others.

The way in which we will ensure that we do this will be by resting on Him and walking with Him daily, and it will be through humility, and prayerfulness, and ensuring that all that we say is in accordance with the Scriptures. In other words, all our words are to be golden words coming from the throne of God. To put it another way we should always in all circumstance say what we consciously believe that Jesus would have said in our place, as Christ lives out His life through us. We should ensure that our words are always God-given. We are to speak as ‘oracles of God'. The requirement is a demanding one, but Peter no doubt had in mind Jesus' words that ‘for every idle word that people shall speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment' (Matthew 12:36), whether it be good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10).

And the second part of his words refers to our actions. We should act as true servants, servants of God and servants of men, in such a way that all that we do is through God's strength, and to His glory. Our light must so shine before men that they see our good works and glorify our Father Who is in Heaven (Matthew 5:16). Thus the slaves service to his master (1 Peter 2:18), the wife's service to her husband (1 Peter 3:6), the husband's loving response to his wife (1 Peter 3:7), the service of each to all (1 Peter 3:8), is to be performed through His strength and His enabling. And the world is to see in the words and service of each Christian, the fullness of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6)

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