Recently, I’ve been again reflecting on 1 Peter 3:13-17. Here are a few points I picked up…

• Be eager to do good
  Really, who’s gonna stop you doing that?!?
• Don’t worry about the possible results of doing good
  Yes, you might suffer for it, but so did Jesus.
• Don’t fear. Don’t be frightened
  How are you going to do that? See the next point.
• Sanctify Christ as the Lord in your Heart
  In other words… Render, acknowledge, consecrate (set apart as being holy) Christ as who He truly is, as the only Lord of all, in that innermost place that is the fountain and seat of all your thoughts, passions, and desires
• Have an answer prepared for people who are ready to ask you about your faith
  My thought is if you’ve been applying the first four points then people will naturally get curious.
• Answer others with gentleness and respect
  Even when evangelizing (actually, especially so), model Christ’s Love. If others are offended, let it be because of the message… not the messenger.
• It’s been said before and will be said again… Keep doing good!
  In addition to no slander sticking to you, any suffering caused by doing good will end up being to your advantage later.

OK, the passage is quite straight-forward and easy to understand… but I’m not saying that each point is exactly easy to do. However, I’m pretty sure that’s where “Sanctify Christ as the Lord in your Heart” is so important here. So that the rest of the passage should be describing the natural overflow of that single act of continual worship.