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But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9
Reflect
Author Alex Haley, conducting research for his landmark book, Roots, embarked on the freighter African Star, sailing from Monrovia, Liberia, to Jacksonville, Fla. Each night, after dinner, Haley would crawl into the cavernous, dark hold of the ship.
Stripped down to his underwear, he would lie on his back on broad, thick, rough-hewn timber that was wedged between sections of cargo to prevent it from shifting in the seas. This might have seemed odd to other people on the ship, but Haley was trying to understand more vividly the plight of his ancestors who had been chained so many years before in the bowels of slave ships. He was struggling to write about the terrible journey endured by Kunta Kinte, and he wanted to experience something of what those enslaved Africans had suffered.
Even for Haley, who knew he could leave the hold whenever he wished, this wasn’t a pleasant experience. After two nights, he couldn’t bring himself to return on the third. Overwhelmed by the experience and the difficulty of telling the story, he struggled with whether he could continue his work. But eventually, he returned to the hold, this time bringing a writing tablet and pencils. His determination to understand his ancestors’ suffering helped him find the words he had been searching for.
It’s admirable that Haley even attempted to experience something of the suffering his ancestors endured. Of course, he could never fully understand their agony. He was free to leave the hold at any time. They weren’t. But he was willing to surrender some of his own comfort to better understand the suffering of others.
As Christians, we serve a Savior who did something infinitely greater. Jesus stepped out of the perfection of heaven and entered our world, taking on our humanity not simply to understand our suffering, but to redeem us from our sins. He experienced the joys and sorrows of human life, faced temptation without sinning, endured rejection and persecution, and ultimately suffered an agonizing death on the cross as our Messiah.
Jesus knew what His obedience would cost Him. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He openly expressed the anguish He faced. Yet He willingly submitted to His Father’s will. He understood the suffering that awaited Him, and He chose to endure it. He never gave up.
Have you ever placed yourself in someone else’s shoes and walked with them for even a short distance to minister to them? Have you been willing to sacrifice some of your own comfort to understand what another person is experiencing? Do you understand the difference between thinking about kindness and love and actually giving of yourself?
It’s easy to feel sympathy for someone who is suffering. It’s another thing entirely to enter that person’s struggles, listen to their pain, and help carry their burdens. Genuine compassion requires more than good intentions. Sometimes it requires our time, our comfort, and our willingness to go where we’d rather not go.
Peter reminds us that we are a royal priesthood, a people who belong to God. We’ve been called out of darkness into His marvelous light, and we’ve received His mercy. Now we’re called to demonstrate that mercy to others. Our compassion isn’t simply a good deed. It’s one way we proclaim the goodness of the Savior who first showed compassion to us.
Christ entered our world, shared our humanity, and endured suffering to save us. Now, as members of His royal priesthood, we’re called to reflect His love to the people around us. That means more than recognizing someone else’s suffering. It means being willing to enter their struggles, share their burdens, and demonstrate the mercy we’ve received from God.
After all, it’s one thing to tell someone about the light of Christ. It’s another to help them see it.
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Reflection copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt and Charles Fulton.
