Developing Christian Characterنموونە

Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to keep away from fleshly desires that do battle against the soul, and maintain good conduct among the non-Christians, so that though they now malign you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God when he appears.
1 Peter 2:11-12 NET

When we consider our text, we will discover that our good conduct as believers brings glory to God. On the other hand, bad conduct dishonors the name of the Lord. In other words, if we desire to bring God glory and honour it will reflect in our conduct.

Another thing to notice in our text is that good conduct is more meaningful in the midst of the unsaved. Most believers put up a show of good conduct in church on a Sunday but their conduct on Monday to Saturday is irreconcilable with what they were on Sunday. Our good conduct is more effective in the midst of the unsaved. This is not to say that good conduct is not needed in the midst of believers. Apostle Peter emphasized that good conduct must be maintained among non-Christians. It means how we behave at our work place, schools, commercial buses and every where apart from the church is very important. Our good conduct must not be limited to Christian environments.

When you go up a bit higher in the chapter of our text; in verse 9, you will discover that the Apostle Peter already told them they were holy people and then in verse 11-12 he encourages them to live out their reality, especially among the unsaved. It goes to say that good conduct is an expression of our identity as holy people. We are not trying to be holy people when we maintain good conduct; no, that's self righteousness. Rather, we maintain good conduct because we are holy people, that's walking in our identity as righteous and holy people. Simply put--our conduct must match our identity and profession, and people must be able to see it and acknowledge it.