Post by Cindy on Apr 11, 2016 10:25:55 GMT -5
Have you ever thought about what Paul told the people he was mentoring in all the churches he planted? Here's one of the times he said this: “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:9) Or how about these: “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1) “Therefore I urge you to imitate me.” (1 Corinthians 4:16) “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.” (Philippians 3:17) “You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Thessalonians 1:6) “For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example.” (2 Thessalonians 3:7) He says it often enough that we can't misunderstand him, that's for sure. And think...he didn't have the wonderful opportunity to walk with the Lord for the 3 years He ministered here on earth. Instead, he was one of those who persecuted and killed Christians! But from the moment Jesus appeared to him, until the end of his life, he was totally, 1000% changed - and not of his own doing, but the Lord changed His heart, just as He changes each of us at salvation. When I reflect on this, knowing that Paul was just another man, he wasn't anything special anymore than I am, I have to ask myself then, why I can't say the things he did? After all these years, shouldn't my life be so conformed to that of my Lord's that I could easily simply tell people like Paul did, "follow my example", or "imitate me"?
Paul didn't have years to grow in His faith, or years to learn God's Word or even time to sit down and chat about theology with Jesus, or even any of the disciples after Jesus left. Yes, he had that vision or visitation of the Lord, on the road to Damascus, and the Lord revealed many other things to Him supernaturally over the years, but is that honestly any excuse as to why my life shouldn't be at least as good as his was? If I'm honest with myself (and I really don't want to be about this) then I have to say, "no, it's not an excuse I can use." There really is no reason at all why my life shouldn't be so holy that I could tell people to follow my example. Paul tells us outright how he did it. He said it took self discipline - a lot of it, I'm sure! He said he forced himself to do what was right. Here's one of the places he talks about it: “Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” (1 Corinthians 9:26–27) And here: “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” (Titus 2:11–14) There's other examples as well. We can't even suggest that Paul must have had a lot of self control and was good at self discipline, because that's simply not necessarily so. At least the old Paul didn't necessarily have those attributes. But self control, or self discipline, however you want to say it, is one of the fruits of the spirit, so as Paul used it, it was strengthened and grew in him, just as it would be in us, if we used it. So I have to admit that I'm without excuse. My life should look like my Lord's, just as Paul's did.
I have a choice now that I've realized this. I can wallow in self pity deciding that I could never do this, and let Satan win the day, or I can get up, and decide that from this moment on, my life will look and sound like my Lord's life. Will I fail? Of course I will, even Paul sinned! That's still no excuse, because God gives us a clean slate every time we confess our sins, so we can always start over fresh. Paul explained it much better, giving us even more information about how we too can live our life just like he did and just like the Lord did: “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12–14)
So let's all decide to press on together!
Paul didn't have years to grow in His faith, or years to learn God's Word or even time to sit down and chat about theology with Jesus, or even any of the disciples after Jesus left. Yes, he had that vision or visitation of the Lord, on the road to Damascus, and the Lord revealed many other things to Him supernaturally over the years, but is that honestly any excuse as to why my life shouldn't be at least as good as his was? If I'm honest with myself (and I really don't want to be about this) then I have to say, "no, it's not an excuse I can use." There really is no reason at all why my life shouldn't be so holy that I could tell people to follow my example. Paul tells us outright how he did it. He said it took self discipline - a lot of it, I'm sure! He said he forced himself to do what was right. Here's one of the places he talks about it: “Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” (1 Corinthians 9:26–27) And here: “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” (Titus 2:11–14) There's other examples as well. We can't even suggest that Paul must have had a lot of self control and was good at self discipline, because that's simply not necessarily so. At least the old Paul didn't necessarily have those attributes. But self control, or self discipline, however you want to say it, is one of the fruits of the spirit, so as Paul used it, it was strengthened and grew in him, just as it would be in us, if we used it. So I have to admit that I'm without excuse. My life should look like my Lord's, just as Paul's did.
I have a choice now that I've realized this. I can wallow in self pity deciding that I could never do this, and let Satan win the day, or I can get up, and decide that from this moment on, my life will look and sound like my Lord's life. Will I fail? Of course I will, even Paul sinned! That's still no excuse, because God gives us a clean slate every time we confess our sins, so we can always start over fresh. Paul explained it much better, giving us even more information about how we too can live our life just like he did and just like the Lord did: “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12–14)
So let's all decide to press on together!
