“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”
King James Version (KJV)
3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts - Have an holy fear, and a full trust in his wise providence. The hope - Of eternal life. With meekness - For anger would hurt your cause as well as your soul. And fear - A filial fear of offending God, and a jealousy over yourselves, lest ye speak amiss.
1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. "But sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord" (Revised Version). Let Christ be honored and reverenced. Fear not man but the Lord. And [be] ready always to [give] an answer. To confess Christ as the ground of your hope. With meekness and fear. The answer to adversaries is to be made, not with arrogance and indignation, but modestly, meekly, reverentially.