Living like Christ.
How many
times have you not felt these things in your daily lives? I
nstead we often
experience fighting, arguing, slander against us, swearing, war, families torn
apart and I can go on and on. Yes, we often do have love and goods things in
our lives, but imagine an earth or a live where it was just good and no evil or
bad things.
"Is
this Possible?", you ask....Well, Yes it is, through living a life of
Christ.
We are
not going to get away from having evil all around us. Earth is being dominated
by evil activities, it’s been like that since the beginning (since the sin of
Adam and Eve), what we are called to do though, is to live a life apart from
this world. God wants us not to confirm to the activities and evil of this
world, but to confirm to His good ways.
"...do
not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of
God.... Romans 12:2
How do we do this? Well, in the New Testament,
there are many things that are mentioned which we can do, conform to and live
for. Look at 1 Thessalonians 5 12-22 for example:
Dear
brothers and sisters, honour those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work.
They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance. Show them great
respect and wholehearted love because of their work. And live peacefully with
each other. Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy.
Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be
patient with everyone. See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try
to do good to each other and to all people. Always be joyful. Never stop
praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who
belong to Christ Jesus. Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at
prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Stay
away from every kind of evil.
Let’s break it down:
Respect
those…over you in the Lord....
Live in
peace with each other....
Warn those
who are idle, (those who are lazy do not earn their keep)
encourage
the timid,
help the
weak, (This doesnt mean just money - We can use time!)
be patient
with everyone….
always try
to be kind....
Be joyful
always;
pray
continually; (no specific way, talk to God, always, eyes open/closed doesn’t
matter)
give
thanks in all circumstances...
Do not put
out the Spirit’s fire; (The Holy Spirit, God in us)
do not
treat prophecies with contempt. (But also don’t trust any false prophets)
Test
everything. (Does it align with the Word of God?)
Hold on to
the good.
Avoid
every kind of evil.
The commands of Christ are real. They are not
commands like in the Old Testament that when not followed, they led to
punishment. Commands from Christ are how He wants us to live. The Spirit of God
leads us to become more like Him. This Spirit, which is God in us, will help us
do all the things that we are commanded to do BUT we have to want to follow
Christ. We have to want Him in our lives, we have to believe that the commands
that Jesus laid down are real and most of all, we have to really believe that
Jesus Christ is our one and only Saviour.
We need to invite the Spirit into our hearts. Do it
today, do it everyday, do it for Christ, do it for yourselves, do it for your
families, do it for your salvation and do it because that is what is right.
"The
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Gal. 5:22-23). This is the product of a heart devoted to God.
"Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its
passions and desires" (v. 24).
Pray now to God and invite His Spirit!
Blessings
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