Sanctify Jesus as Lord in Your Heart

1 Peter 3:15 (NKJV) says, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; “

This scripture is commonly known, telling us believers that we need to always be ready to defend our faith and know what we believe, but rarely do we talk about the command that must come first: to sanctify the Lord God in our hearts.

In the Amplified, it says set Christ apart as Lord. Let’s look at two words: sanctify & heart.

The Greek word sanctify is hagiazó (hag-ee-ad'-zo), Strongs Greek 37, which means to set apart, to hallow. In this particular usage of the word, it also attributes holiness to be transferable from God to whatever or whoever has any connection to Him (i.e., His servants, His will, His plans).

The Greek word for heart is kardia (kar-DEE-ah), Strongs Greek 2588, which means the mind, thoughts, feelings, and the capacity of moral preference. In this particular usage of the word, the heart that has sanctified God is undivided, stable, and direct.

So let’s look at this scripture with the context of the Greek meanings of these words. To sanctify the Lord God in our hearts, we must acknowledge the Lord and all that He has planned for us and those whom He sends to us as holy, of high regard, different, unique, and worthy in our hearts that are not divided between the world and the Lord, but why? Because God being first in your life will guide your preferences and keep you from sin (Jude 1:24-25).

It is no coincidence that after Peter says that statement, he finishes the chapter and dedicates the entire next one to normalizing suffering in the flesh (1 Peter 4). See, this is why we need to sanctify God in our hearts. Meaning we have to make the choice to regard Him and His will as holy, so when things happen in our lives, we will know whom and what to turn to. David encourages us to hide the Word in our hearts so that we will not sin against the Lord (Psalm 119:11). Peter tells us to cease living in the flesh and submitting to its desires to instead live for the will of God (1 Peter 4:2). These are principles you will live by if you sanctify, regard as holy, the rightful place of Jesus as the Master, the sole authority, of your life.

I’ll leave you with this, 1 Peter 4:3 says “3 For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.”

Enough is enough. We have spent enough time with no regard for The Lord living as the Gentiles (the world) do, doing the will of the enemy. Let’s embrace Jesus’ Lordship, submit to Him, kill our flesh, and live for God.