4:14
In Matthew 5:11,12 Jesus said we are blessed when we are persecuted for His sake. Peter is reiterating these words. He then goes on to say why we are blessed, it is because the “Spirit of glory and of God rests on us”. We were created to live in unity with the Lord. The world has rebelled against the Lord (and we were part of that rebellion), but when we repent and turn to Christ we end our rebellion. We are in Christ. So the world in its continued rebellion persecutes us because it recognises the spirit of God in us. It is far better to be on “God’s side” and persecuted, than to be on the world’s side and liked.
4:15
Now this does not mean that all suffering is good or blessed. And it does not mean that every time we suffer it is because of Christ. We suffer often enough because of our own stupidity, and sometimes even because we have done wrong. These can be serious wrongs (thief or criminal) or noncriminal wrongs (a meddler). We should not and must not use being a Christian as an excuse for suffering in this way. If we suffer because of wrong that we do, or because of our foolishness, we need to repent and mend our ways.
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