“Dear friends, I warn you as ‘temporary residents and foreigners’ to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.”
— 1 Peter 2:11 (NLT)
Peter’s words hit different when you read them slowly: temporary residents… foreigners… exiles.
He’s saying, “You don’t belong here. Don’t get comfortable.”
That’s a hard truth to swallow, especially for men who like to build, control, conquer, and establish.
But the reality is this:
We’re not home.
Not even close.
We’re living in a world that’s not designed to satisfy us, and if we forget that, we’ll spend our lives chasing things that kill us instead of the One who saves us.
Exiles live differently because they see differently.
An exile doesn’t act like a native.
He’s in a land, but not of it.
He doesn’t adopt the culture, the cravings, or the values of the people around him.
That’s Peter’s warning:
Don’t blend in. Don’t get swallowed up. Don’t fall asleep here.
This world will sell you a thousand desires, comfort, lust, ego, status, distraction, money, applause, and every one of them wages war against your soul.
Not bruises.
Not annoyances.
War.
God isn’t calling you to manage sin.
He’s calling you to crucify it.
To live like a man who knows his address isn’t planet earth, it’s eternity.
Exiles know they’re in a fight, not a vacation.
You don’t drift into holiness.
You don’t stumble into strength.
You don’t coast into Christlikeness.
You fight for it.
“So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you.”
— Colossians 3:5 (NLT)
Conquer What’s Killing You, Rise to What Matters