1 Peter 3:17 (LSB)

Passage

For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing good rather than for doing wrong.

Nearby Context

1 Peter 3:15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and fear,

1 Peter 3:16 having a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who disparage your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame.

1 Peter 3:17 For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing good rather than for doing wrong.

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, so that He might bring you to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;

1 Peter 3:19 in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "better", "should", "suffer", "doing", "good", "rather", and "than". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "better" and "should", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "having a good conscience so that in..." into verse 18's "For Christ also suffered for sins once...", so "better" and "should" belong inside that flow. In 1 Peter context, the local focus is hope in suffering, holy conduct, submission, and grace.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "better" and "should" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.