“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” – 1 Peter 3:8 ESV
Do you ever struggle with keeping a balance between your head and your heart as I do?
Keeping the balance between the thinking of the mind, the analyzing and figuring out, and reasoning…and having the compassion, tenderness, sympathy and love that should trump whatever my mind should ever think it has figured out…all the while, still coming back to the right and necessary way of thinking, because I was given a mind for a purpose, just as I was given a heart.
“Balance” has always been a struggle for me.
When I jump into something, I like to jump in wholeheartedly, with every bit of everything my mind can take.
But sometimes I find myself overthinking, dwelling on the “what ifs” or the “theories” or the nitty gritty… and then I realize my heart may not be doing its part as it should be…
And then there are other times when I am leading so much with my heart that I forget to really use my brain to think… and sometimes I’ll find myself being a little bit gullible or naive.
I jotted down 1 Peter 3:8 the other day, because it stood out to me, and I even created a draft with only that verse because I had a feeling I might be writing about it.
Well, today was the day to be reminded of it. You see, as I was writing to the Lord in my journal this morning, I asked Him to “remind me of what I need to be reminded of today” and the phrase that came to my mind was “the balance between the head and the heart” and as I opened up my blog journal to start writing, I was led to this draft with “1 Peter 3:8” in it.
I like to parallel the verses with different versions to see all of the word variations. It really helps me to get a deeper understanding of the verse…
1 Peter 3:8, NIV: “Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.”
1 Peter 3:8, ESV: “Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.”
1 Peter 3:8, KJV: “Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:”
1 Peter 3:8, NASB: “To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit;”
1 Peter 3:8, NLT: “Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude.”
1 Peter 3:8-9 The Passion Translation: 8 Now, this is the goal: to live in harmony with one another and demonstrate affectionate love, sympathy, and kindness toward other believers. Let humility describe who you are as you dearly love one another. 9 Never retaliate when someone treats you wrongly, nor insult those who insult you, but instead, respond by speaking a blessing over them—because a blessing is what God promised to give you.“
For me, this verse reminds me of what’s most important. It’s like a good “checklist” reminder to self….
“Am I being harmonious, remembering that it’s about the way of Jesus, and that is always, always the ‘main thing’?”
“Am I being sympathetic and compassionate? Or am I thinking of my own self too much to think of others?”
“Am I being loving? Do I love others with a family kind of unconditional love? Or has that taken a back seat?”
“Is my heart tender? Am I being kind with my heart? Or has it become a bit hardened from my way of thinking?”
“Am I truly humble? Or am I proud in my way of thinking?”
Wow.
Right?
I needed this reminder today. I asked the Lord for the reminder I needed today, and this was it. Thank You, Lord. ?☀️?
-Heather ?