“But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in having that name.” (1 Peter 4:16 CSB)
Devotional
I’ve stayed quiet in rooms where I should have said something, mostly because I didn’t want the awkward look that comes after you mention your faith and the conversation changes.
Peter is writing to people facing something far heavier than an awkward look: real suffering, real cost, real consequences for being known as a Christian. And into that, he says something that cuts against every instinct we have to shrink back. Don’t be ashamed. Let that name, the one that’s costing you something, be the very thing you glorify God in.
Shame tells us to hide the parts of ourselves that make us different, that might get us excluded or mocked or misunderstood. It’s a natural reflex. But Peter reframes the whole situation. Suffering for the name of Christ isn’t evidence that something has gone wrong. It’s actually a strange kind of honour, because it means you’re identified with him closely enough for it to cost you anything at all.
This doesn’t mean the discomfort disappears or that it’s easy to feel proud in the moment someone rolls their eyes at your faith. It means the shame doesn’t have to be the last word. You can feel the sting of it and still refuse to let it define how you see yourself. Glorifying God in that name isn’t about performing confidence. It’s about quietly deciding that being known as his is worth more than being spared the awkwardness.
Whatever it’s costing you this week to be known as a Christian, you don’t have to carry shame over it. You get to carry his name instead.
Reflection
I notice how quickly I want to soften or hide my faith when it might cost me something socially. I want to trade that instinct for Peter’s instead: letting the name itself be enough reason to hold my head up.
Prayer
Father, we don’t always feel brave when our faith costs us something. Take away the shame we sometimes carry and remind us that being known as yours is worth it. Help us glorify you in it, even when it’s uncomfortable. Amen.