“10 For, the one who desires life, to love and see good days, 
must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. 
11 He must turn away from evil and do good; 
he must seek peace and pursue it. 
12 For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, 
and His ears attend to their prayer, 
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 
~~1 PETER 3:10-12 ~~

I’m sure you have heard people say, “man, that guy is livin’ the good life”.  My mind immediately thinks, “how do I know he is?”  We can’t judge a life by what we can see – possessions, status, money.  Those things will never really equate to a good life.  

In this passage, to see good days is to live in a righteous way that is in line with the standard God sets.  A good life is one in which there are no barriers to interaction with God.  Sin separates us from intimacy with God.  And frankly, you can’t be living the good life without intimate interactions with your God.  

With all that being said, let’s look at a few things that Peter highlights that fall under the category of the kind of righteous life that keeps us in fellowship with our God.  

MUST KEEP HIS TONGUE FROM EVIL

Must keep <pauō> means: to make to cease or desist; to restrain a thing or person from something.  It’s important to note that this is in the imperative mood, it is a command, not a suggestion.  Also note the words “to make” –they denote that the action that follows does not come naturally.  You have to MAKE it so.  You have to MAKE yourself cease from doing something.  Now let’s look at what we MUST MAKE ourselves cease from doing.  

The righteous person must keep “his tongue from evil”.  The word for evil <kakos> means worthless (having no use, importance, or effect), depraved (very evil; having or showing an evil or immoral character), or injurious (inflicting or tending to inflict injury; detrimental; abusive or defamatory). 

PAUSE TO PONDER those definitions in light of what comes out your mouth.  The Bible says that our words are to be for the building up of others (1 Thessalonians 5:1).  Here are a few passages that reference how our mouth is to be used.  Use them to do to some self examination, painful as it may be (speaking from experience….oy)

But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” 
so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
~~Hebrews 3:13~~

“for the equipping of the saints for the work of service,
 to the building up of the body of Christ;”
~~Ephesians 4:12~~

“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, 
but only such a word as is good for edification 
according to the need of the moment, 
so that it will give grace to those who hear.” 
~~Ephesians 4:29~~

“and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,”
~~Hebrews 10:24~~

MUST KEEP HIS LIPS FROM SPEAKING DECEIT

The second thing the righteous person must do is to “keep his lips from speaking deceit”.  The Greek word for lips <cheilos> is referring to the speaking mouth.  I found it so interesting that <cheilos> has also been used as a metaphor for the sea shore.  Before I move on to defining how God defines “deceit”, let’s sit in the “sea shore” metaphor first.  

PAUSE TO PONDER the waves of the sea shore.  How many times have you sat at the beach and just listened to the peaceful sound of the waves coming in and going out.  But that same sea, when it is stirred by a storm, can do so much damage.  Waves always have an effect.  The same is true of our words.  Do your words create peace to those around you, or do they do damage?  

“The tongue has the power of life and death”
~~Proverbs 18:21~~

So we are to keep the “waves” of our words from speaking deceit.  God defines deceit <dolos> as crafty (cunningly arranging your words in such a way as to manipulate a person to think a certain way), deceitful (the act of causing someone to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid; the quality of being dishonest or misleading), having guile (contradictory doubleness of thought, speech, or action; the belying of one’s true intentions by deceptive words or action). Say what you mean and mean what you say.

MUST TURN AWAY FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD

The third thing the righteous person is to do is, they “must turn away from evil and do good”.  Must turn away <ekklinō> is also in the imperative mood (a command, not a suggestion), and it means to deviate (to do something that is different from what is usual) or to shun (to avoid deliberately and especially habitually); to turn oneself away from something.  If I have to turn myself away from something, that denotes that it doesn’t come naturally; I have to be purposeful and intentional in the “turning”.  The word evil <kakos> means contrary to the law, either divine or human.  

PAUSE TO PONDER the definition of evil – contrary to the law, either divine or human.  As I sit in that for a minute, what the Spirit is bringing to mind is when I choose to disregard the speed limit signs, I am not purposefully and intentionally turning myself from evil because I am breaking the law.  (Oh my…and ouch!!)  

A righteous person must not only turn away from evil but they must “do good”.  Good <agathos> means upright and honorable.  If someone is upright they always behave in an honest way, having high moral standards.   An honorable person has and shows honesty and good moral character.  This type of person has an untarnished reputation and is characterized by integrity.  

MUST SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “you’ll never hit what you aren’t aiming at”.  Well, the same goes for this phrase.  There are two different commands concerning peace here.  The first is to seek it <zēteō>; and this means to seek in order to find; to aim at; to strive after.  To seek is a PURPOSEFUL action.   The second is to pursue it <diōkō>; and this means to seek after eagerly (very excitedly; feeling a strong and impatient desire for something), earnestly (characterized by or proceeding from an intense and serious state of mind); to endeavor (to seriously or continually try to do something by exertion of effort).  To pursue takes SERIOUS EFFORT.  

We are to seek and pursue peace <eirēnē>.  This word is referring to peace between individuals, i.e. harmony, concord.  The dictionary defines peace as a state of tranquility or quiet; freedom from civil disturbance; a state of security or order within a community provided for by law or custom; harmony in personal relations.  Harmony is defined as a pleasing arrangement of parts; congruence; agreement, accord; internal calm.  

PAUSE TO PONDER the word “harmony”.  Loving music like I do, this word brought so many thoughts to mind.  

• • If I am singing in harmony with another person, while we are singing different notes, as long as we are singing the same song in the same key, there is harmony.  
  • There can be beauty in diversity when people are on the same page of the same song in the same key.
  • If I am doing my own thing, not singing in harmony with others, it is obvious to those listening. It is far from pleasant.  
  • If I am singing the harmony part, by myself – without other people singing their parts – the song sounds incomplete and often unrecognizable.  

Finishing up where we began — to see truly good days is to live in a righteous way that is in line with the standards God sets, so that there is no disruption in your intimacy with Him.  A good life is one in which there are no barriers between you and God.  God sees, I mean truly sees, what is going on both the inside and the outside of you.  There’s no hiding from His gaze. 

To truly live the good life, make yourself watch your mouth, make yourself watch your actions, make yourself watch your interactions with others.  Without being intentional and purposeful in these, the good life will be just beyond your grasp.