1 Peter 3:8 - "Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous."

Thoughts on today's verse:

As Peter wraps up this letter, he has a few parting thoughts that he wants to communicate with the Church and some of those thoughts are seen here with five simple commands, which are, by implication, commands made to us as well.

First, Peter says that the believers are to be of one mind. The obvious implication here, is that naturally, believers are not always of one mind. Unity doesn't just happen - it is something that needs to be worked on.

Secondly, we are supposed to have compassion for one another. Other translations take this as the idea of "sympathy." One author stated that this means "caring deeply about the needs, joys, and sorrows of others" (Schreiner, Tom. NAC, 1, 2 Peter, Jude, p. 164).

Third, we are commanded to love as brothers. This brotherly love is recognized as a familial type of love that comes when we recognize that all who have Christ in common are part of the same spiritual family! We may have differences with our siblings, but this does not negate the love that we ought to show to them!

Fourthly, Peter says that we, as Christians, are supposed to be tenderhearted. The idea here is that of compassion. Paul alludes to this same concept in Ephesians 4:32 where we find that such compassion is to be borne out of a grateful heart to God for the compassion that he demonstrated to us in providing so great a salvation. It is much easier to be compassionate with our brothers and sisters in Christ when we put it in perspective of what Christ did through us!

Finally, Peter commands believers everywhere to be courteous, which carries with it the idea of being humble. Another translation states that we are to have "a humble mind" (ESV). This is fleshed out when we adopt the attitude that Paul put forth in Philippians 2:3-4 - "3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."

This is really a picture of what Christianity should look like and how our lives should be marked: unity, sympathy, family, mercy, and humility!