You now rejoice in this hope, even if it’s necessary for you to be distressed for a short time by various trials. This is necessary so that your faith may be found genuine.

- 1 Peter 1:6-7a

I find it interesting that the one who writes so boldly about faith, especially in the midst of trials, is the very one who denied even knowing Jesus when the trials came his way.

"What are you talking about, Peter?" we might ask. "If what you're saying is true, your faith wasn't very genuine all those times you challenged Jesus? Where was your faith when he was arrested and needed you the most?" And of course we would not be wrong in such a challenge. We might even begin to feel a bit self-righteous if we have not personally denied Jesus in such a public way…

It's in our nature as human beings to solve problems. We are rational and critical thinkers. We always want to fix or improve things... even other people. We also have a million competing ideas of how to fix the problems of our world. We don't agree on who might best lead us toward those solutions or on how to divide our limited resources for the greatest outcome.

Unlike us, Jesus actually had the resources to fix everyone's problems. He could have walked through town waving his hands like a magic wand taking away every sickness and infirmity before people even realized what was happening. But he didn't. Every healing Jesus performed involved a one on one personal encounter. Their "problems" were not "fixed" from a distance. Maybe their problems were not "fixed" at all. In some cases, being healed created a whole new set of problems…

….We thank God for our blessings, recognizing that they are entirely undeserved. "But by the grace of God," we say when we see someone less fortunate, and yet even this statement of praise and thanksgiving exposes our pride. Are we more fortunate because God gave us more grace than the person who finds themselves in a worse situation? You see the dilemma. Even in our gratitude we somehow start to feel like God's favorites.

It is said that even those who learn to be humble will become proud of their humility. How do we get out of this trap?…

Believing in Jesus is easy. Even the demons believed he was the Son of God. What sets us apart? What makes us "Christian?"

Being a Christian is not merely about "believing", but actually imitating Christ. James writes, "Be doers of the word, and not hearers only" (James 1:22). Some are quick to object that this sounds like "works righteousness," as if somehow we must be "good enough" to get into heaven. The truth is that this is not about being "good enough" or about "getting into heaven." It is about living out of our identity…