What Peter has been doing up until now in the last chapter and a half or so is addressing

particular groups of believers or believers viewed from a particular angle.

For example, in Chapter 213 to 17,

believer viewed as citizens and how they should respond to the state. And then in chapter 2,

verses 18 to 25, believers as servants or slaves and how they should respond to

their masters.

And then in chapter 3, verses 1 to 6,

the Christian wives and how they should respond to unbelieving husbands.

And then in verse 7 of chapter 3, Christian husbands

and how they should respond to their wives. And now this morning, in the text that we just

heard read, the issue is not believers viewed as citizens or as slaves

or as husbands or as wives, but as members of a body of people living together and how they should handle conflict and how they should relate to each other.

This is really relevant for us this morning because of our focus on small groups, because one of the things I want us to see is how small groups exists to make us

into the kind of people whom we just heard described, especially in verses 8 and 9, which we're

going to focus on this morning.

One of the things that happens in healthy small groups is that we help each other become the kind of people described in these verses.

So let's ask now of all the hundreds of things that Peter could have said about believers

in describing the kind of people we are, or that we're supposed to be,

what did he say?

In verse 8 in particular here, notice that he says not first a list of things to do, but five kinds of person to be.

That's not as obvious in some of the versions as it is in others, but let's just walk through these five traits of personhood that should mark all believers.

Number one, all of you be harmonious.

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