Logos: 1 Peter 3:15b-16a

Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. (1 Peter 3:15b-16a)

I'm not sure why this sentence spans parts of two verses, but when I reassembled it, I was struck by how much power is in it.

1. Always be ready - Sharing the word of God, whether in voice or deed, is not always something we can plan to do our our own timing. Often, it happens on God's timing, so always be ready.
2. Make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting - It sounds militaristic, doesn't it? Someone demanding something; you defending your belief? Not everyone we meet will be kind and gentle in their exploration. They may be antagonistic about our beliefs.
3. The hope that is in you - What are we sharing? Not judgments. Not hatred. Not a list of dos and don'ts. We are sharing the hope that is in us. In you are going to be ready to do that - always - then you had better know about the hope that is in you. Can you tell people about it?
4. Do it with gentleness and reverence - Even though the person who is confronting us may be antagonistic, how do we respond. With gentleness. Not only with gentleness, but with reverence. With reverence. Imagine. Not so hard to believe if we remember that the person in front of us is a child of God.