In school, we are taught when writing to consider the audience and to think about the purpose of the written work. Are you writing to persuade or to describe? Are you writing to explain or to argue a point? Are you writing for children or adults? These things influence how you write: a technical article will look very different to a fairy story, for example.
Peter says that he wrote both his letters ‘as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking.’ (2 Pet 3:1) The Message version says the letters are ‘reminders to hold your minds in a state of undistracted attention.’ The Voice version says, ‘I have tried to inspire you to a sincere and pure way of thinking by reminding you of what you already know.’
‘Wholesome’ means something which is good for you and likely to improve your life. How we think, what we ponder, where we let our thoughts rest has the power to either build us up or tear us down. Paul gives us a list of wholesome thinking in Phil 4:8: whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy, these are the things we should think about!
Peter’s letters go over the basics of the faith and remind us of truths that will always help us. 1 Peter’s purpose has been described as giving us ‘confidence in a complex world;‘. We can be sure that when we spend time in the Bible, this will stimulate us to wholesome thinking, and the subsequent result from this will be to improve our lives physically, emotionally and spiritually. Life lived from God’s perspective and according to His will will always be good for us.
