DaySpring Daily Word of Inspiration: Ephesians 4:31-32 – Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
This week we have looked at foundational truths that exist when we recognize who we are apart from Christ and why we need him so badly in our lives. Let us continue on this with some of the results that are evident when we make the transition from our natural worldly mindsets to a mind that has Christ and living as Christ as a constant on our minds.
One of the issues that we as people run up against in our daily Christian walk is the task or privilege (depending on how you look at it) of being a “Christian” all of the time. Now I know that sounds weird but hear me out; when you don’t have a conscience for God or to be about his teachings in our lives, we are carefree. We live in a natural flow of life that is consistent with the sinful nature. It is common, so it doesn’t look weird when we do things that everyone else doing because that is the norm of living a sinful life! Everyone is doing it, why would it be weird? Now anytime you do something outside of that norm, it is difficult to either identify with or continue to do because of its foreign nature. We’re not used to living by the Spirit of God; therefore it’s an uncomfortable lifestyle to adjust to. Not to mention, how differently you will look from everyone else.
However difficult, it is more that essential for us to grasp the indefinite need to be willing to be like Christ and different than the norm in this life. How can you encourage someone who’s never read the bible to become a believer? How will you lead someone to Christ if they look at your path and see it leads to the same place they’ve been heading? What good is talking about something if you’re not passionately engaged in it? More simply, would I know there was anything different about you if we hung out together?
Living for Christ isn’t the most popular lifestyle to take on, but it is the most identifiable one. People can and will immediately be attracted to that “something” in you when you embrace the Christian lifestyle and start to exhibit the attributes of the Christ centered life. And this lifestyle isn’t a burden. It will add more to your life and free you from the plagues of this life that destroy us internally and externally. The diseases that run rampant in a normal sinful lifestyle can be summed up in these attributes (meaning they are visible, known and universal): bitterness, anger, slander, strife, brawling, uncontrolled rage and many other things. These things are a normal part of our society and are even tolerated at times. A child of God who has been washed by the blood of Jesus and truly taken up their cross to follow God daily by denying themselves of their own sinful urges to do the norm would never (consistently) act in this manner! They understand that the stakes are high, their calling is that of royalty and they don’t want to make the King look bad. They display the attributes of kingship (the out of the norm actions) consistently, joyfully and freely. The desire is to help others see how good, wonderful, graceful and merciful the King truly is; it’s the bigger picture!
Today God has a big picture that needs to be filled in. If we are willing, we each will have a piece of the puzzle to add to his kingdom but it can’t be done in a normal way. It’s can’t be achieved by our common sinful ways that are acceptable to the world. They puzzle pieces God has for us to use are of a divine nature and they are anything but the norm! When used as he wills, they all come together to make his perfect picture – the body of Christ, the church, His family.
We pray today that you’re in place where you’re ready to rid yourself of the normal and become abnormal in this life for God’s purposes. The longer you look like the world, the less time you look like a child of God. Let’s not get caught looking like everyone else, but be caught looking like Jesus so that our puzzle piece will be used by God and not thrown away. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!