1 Peter 2:19

For this is acceptable, if for conscience toward God a man endureth griefs, suffering wrongfully.

If for conscience toward God ... "This comes from a Greek phrase which means awareness of God.[50] The point of its inclusion here is that of forbidding the notion that patient suffering is in itself pleasing to God, which is not the case at all, "unless it is grounded on consciousness of God's presence."[51]

Endureth griefs ... This is a reference to the cruel, and even inhumane, sadistic treatment the slaves of that era often received from their masters. They had no legal rights whatever; they could be beaten, maimed, burned with fire, or tortured in any manner that a wicked imagination might suggest. Griefs indeed! No class of people on earth ever suffered any more than the unhappy slaves who constituted the working capital of the ancient pagan world. What an achievement for Christianity that such a scourge was finally banished.

[50] Raymond C. Kelcy, op. cit., p. 59.

[51] A. J. Mason, op. cit., p. 408.