Key scripture – “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.” (1 Peter 2:15, ESV).

We’re all natural-born rebels with a built-in resistance to submission. To complicate matters, the concept of submission has been hijacked by people who have twisted and distorted the truth for their own purposes. Submission carries so many negative connotations, even the most sincere followers struggle to understand and embrace it.

Yet blessing and favor come to the person who lives in submission. Why? “For this is the will of God” (2:15). God’s will is for us to display lives of submission to authority. Do you think God isn’t watching? He is. When recognized authorities make a decision and you don’t like it, God is very aware of how you respond. His will is “that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people” (2:15). Yes, people in authority can be foolish, but in response, God wants to see us “doing good.”

Are you being treated unfairly? It’s by doing good that you will silence the ignorance of foolish people. Silencing the foolish happens by living a life of biblical submission, which is, doing good, regardless of your circumstances.

Think about where God is giving you the opportunity to apply this wisdom: Have you been passed over for a promotion at work, something you feel you’ve earned and deserved? Are you angry about how you have been treated by others, from little slights to outright oversights? Has someone betrayed you, turned against you in a relationship, or injured you? How do you weigh your reaction? Are you suffering the consequences of their assumptions and misinterpretations?

Whether you’ve been snubbed, maligned, rejected, slandered, or ignored by earthly authorities, do good and silence the ignorance of foolish people.

Submission to authority is like having an umbrella. When we choose to submit, we’re really choosing to put ourselves under God’s protection. That is a wonderful place to live your life. While bad things may be falling out of the sky all around you, submission is a covering, your place of protection. When you step out from under it, you become very vulnerable. The promises of God do not extend to those who choose to live as rebels. However, when you choose to live under God’s protection by submitting to Him and the authorities He’s placed in your life, His promises and blessings are yours in abundance.

So whether the authorities in your life make wise or foolish choices, whether they treat you justly or unjustly, whether you feel known and appreciated or overlooked and misunderstood, live by these nine words: “Do good and silence the ignorance of foolish people”. God’s counterintuitive strategies have a surprising way of upending the world.

“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

Consider who has authority in your life—a supervisor, professor, boss, husband, pastor, elders, etc. Whose authority do you accept naturally, and whose do you resist? Why do you respond differently to those individuals? In a strained relationship, how can you specifically apply these nine wise words: “Do good and silence the ignorance of foolish people”.

Pray this – Our Precious Heavenly Father, at times I wonder what Your will is for my life, but here You tell me so clearly. In unjust circumstances, when I feel the burning need to tell my side of the story, help me instead to quietly do good and show me what it looks like to do good. I choose to trust Your strategy and submit to the authorities You have placed in my life—Your authority and the human authorities in my church, in my home, in my workplace, and in the government. Thank You that Your way is always best and that by choosing to submit, I step under the umbrella of Your protection and I put my hope in You. Father I will repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on me, I will live peaceably with all. I will never avenge myself, but I will leave it to You, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, if my enemy is hungry, I will feed him; if he is thirsty, I give him something to drink; for by so doing I will heap burning coals on his head. I will not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:17-21). Help me to be wise and “Do good and silence the ignorance of foolish people”. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.