One of the hopes of the epistle of 1 Peter is to encourage Christians to maintain their faith in Jesus. They had already endured through struggle and hardship related to their Christian convictions. It's quite likely they would do so again. Suffering would be a familiar cadence.
Peter recognizes that "various trials" had already landed weary blows (1 Peter 1:6). Still, the message is to rejoice. He insists that Christians reorient their view of persecution and suffering. Learn to see the hope of God through it all. So much is his insistence, church history dubs him the "apostle of hope."
All that to say, there is hope in the struggle of life. But not only the persecution kind of struggle.
The apostle finished the first chapter with a reminder of the good work of Jesus on our part. As a result, God "raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your trust and hope are in God" (1:21). There's that hope again.
Peter then turns to our connection with one another, reminding us we are "born anew" (1:23). Chapter 2, then, directs us to "rid" ourselves of "all malice and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander" (2:1). Often, when I read that, I recall conversations with people who respond by saying, "I'm trying!"
No one seems to be as sincere as they want to be. We try, but envy is sneaky. And we don't even realize how broad slander can be. Many of us feel it useless to keep trying. Nobody's perfect, after all.
Remember, though, there is hope. And our hope extends to the greatest of our sufferings, but also to the depths of our beings. Therefore, what we want to become, with God's help, we can. After all, as the apostle of hope has said, "through him (Jesus) you have come to trust in God" (1:21). So, if God can raise us from the dead, the Lord can surely also help us become the holier versions of ourselves. Have hope!
Stay blessed...john | 
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