Chapter
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Verse

1 Peter 1:13

ESV Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
NIV Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.
NASB Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
CSB Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be sober-minded and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
NLT So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.
KJV Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

What does 1 Peter 1:13 mean?

Where will we set our hope today, in this life, on this side of eternity? That's what Peter is addressing in verse 13.

What does it mean to set or fix our hope on something? It's a question of where we will turn to find meaning for our lives, to find relief from suffering, to fill up the emptiness that every soul experiences (Romans 8:22–25). With what will we occupy our hearts? In what will we invest our thoughts, energy, and focus? If all that Peter has told us so far in this letter is true—that we, as Christians, will be resurrected as Christ was, that God guards us and our inheritance with Him in eternity, that our salvation is secure—then there is only one logical place to set our hope. That is in God's grace to us at the future coming of Jesus, the moment in which all the longings of our hearts will be fully satisfied.

Still, even for those of us who believe, it is difficult for us to keep our hope set on that day. In fact, we are told to make a deliberate choice to set our hope there. We need to do this on purpose, instead of setting our hope on things that cannot truly satisfy, such as money, pleasure, or prestige. Obeying this command will take mental work. So Peter writes that we should stay alert, "preparing your minds for action."

We must take control of where our thoughts go, and what our minds dwell on. If we do not fully engage in intentional hope-setting, we will be easily distracted by the false hope of satisfaction the world continually offers us.
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