“For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth; when he was insulted, he did not insult in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.“1 Peter 2:21-25 CSB https://bible.com/bible/1713/1pe.2.21-25.CSB

The Christian life is the life of following Jesus. This means knowing Him, copying Him, and proclaiming Him until the whole world does the same. If this is not our life, we have no reason to believe we are truly Christian. How did Jesus live? He suffered doing what was right. This suffering was both ridicule for not joining the crowd and physical, for claiming to be God the Messiah, whom the religious leaders rejected as a lie. Jesus committed no sins, so those who follow Him must not sin either. We are to increasingly sin less to increasingly reveal God’s holiness. This is particularly true in our speech, where we no longer lie or return insults. We tell the truth to people, which will cause us suffering because the world believes love allows people to do whatever they want. Love is obedience to God, for we receive eternal life by obeying God. Doing whatever we want to do will lead to our eternal destruction. These selfish and self-centered behaviors are sinful but were punished by Jesus on the cross so that we could be free from the condemnation of them and the continuing desire to do them. Our healing is spiritual, moral, and physical in that we no longer have to do that which displeases God and for which Christ died. Now, we follow Jesus. He is our Lord. Our goal is to obey everything He commanded us, just as He obeyed every word of the Father of heaven.