1 Peter 4:11 11If someone speaks, as the words of God; if someone serves, as from strength which God supplies, in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom is the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
Peter lists two different gifts God gives as expressions of his grace, similar to what Paul wrote in Romans 12:6–8; 1 Corinthians 12:8–10, 28–30; and Ephesians 4:11. The first is speaking. The Bible says a lot about the words we speak. Words have the power of healing for life or poison for death. They reveal what is inside our hearts. We all speak words, though some will speak many more words than others. Whatever we speak, they should be as words filled with God’s wisdom, power, grace, and appropriateness. Some Bible versions today translate the Greek logia as “oracles” or “saying.” Paul uses the same expression in Romans 3:2. In that context, the phrase “oracles of God” refers to prophecy and the Jewish Scriptures. The phrase in 1 Peter seems to refer to authoritative revelations from God. The words we speak should line up with Scripture and not be our own opinions. Are the words we speak honoring to God? Are they as if they came from God? God should be the source of our thoughts and words. Inspiration can come through the Holy Spirit, who will remind us of the words of Jesus (John 14:26). We can ask God to give us the right words to say to one another and to unbelievers outside the church.
The second gift is serving (diakonei), a word used in the New Testament for those who minister to the church in special ways. Those who serve should realize that their strength to help others is not from themselves but from God. If we rely on our own strength to serve, we may burn out or grow discouraged because we lack the divine source to do divine work. Serving on our own can be especially difficult when the situation is stressful or persecution and suffering are present. When people are out to harm us, it can be especially difficult to serve and to speak in the image of Christ. Just like the words we speak, God can also be the source of strength we use for serving. Those who were chosen to serve in Acts 6:1-6 were filled with the Holy Spirit.
The goal of our speaking and serving is to glorify God. If God is behind what we do, that should become evident by what we say and how we act. If we serve and speak for our own glory, and God is not glorified, we will progress forward in a battle that we cannot win. Our personal resources will fail because we put self and deceived fleshly desires ahead of God. This problem can be subtle and not noticed at first, until we grow discouraged and defeated. Giving God the glory allows him to work in our lives to fulfill his purposes for us and the church.
Peter adds the important qualifier of doing giving glory through Jesus. He is the one by whom we can have strength. His sacrifice opened the way to experience all that God has purposed for us. If we allow God to grow us into the likeness of Christ and if we are open and obedient to the Holy Spirit, people will see God’s grace and love at work. What we say and do will bring glory to God. Peter is setting a high standard for his readers. It is one that God desires because it is the strongest witnesses we can have.