Series: The Word
Philippians 2:1-4 The Message
Philippians 1:21 ESV
Romans 14:8 ESV
Romans 14:8 The MSG
When I think about how to live I have a lot of memories that come to mind.
In the second chapter of Paul’s letter to the Philippians he gives us a clue. The Message version in Philippians 2:1-4 tells us, “If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.”
When I read that, I thought ‘ouch’!
I thought of myself when I was a girl and I quit speaking to someone because they made me hold a snake.
I absolutely hate snakes and I still think that person was wrong, but today I see how I could have handled the situation better.
I did not love as Christ loves.
Today I see that.
I also remembered a woman I knew when I was thirty something.
She was constantly telling me what I was doing wrong with my children. And…she singled out one of my children to use as an example of what not to do.
She was a church member and I was her pastor’s wife.
I did everything I could think to do to stay out of her way.
I tried to be unseen.
When I saw her coming I ducked out of sight.
I’m not saying she was right, but today I can see how I could have handled it better.
I did not love her as Christ loves.
I let my fear be the driver.
Instead of being kind and praying about what Christ would have me do, I tried to handle it myself.
I was not a deep-spirited friend. At the time I didn’t know what that was or how to get there.
I have other examples of how I failed, but you get the idea.
I didn’t love as Jesus loves.
In my early fifties I went through a life altering experience. I lost my marriage, my home, my life as I knew it, my church, my church friends, and my identity I’d carried for thirty years.
My whole world was turned upside down. Everything changed. A friend from work knew how much I was struggling and she told me about her church. It was a large congregation. I thought I could go there and hide.
It was probably one of the first ‘hard’ things I did, but I went to a new church by myself. The last time I went to a new church by myself I was 15 years old (and I already had friends who went to that church).
This time I was really by myself. I didn’t have a husband. My children were grown and they all lived in other cities/states. It was one of the most difficult things I did at that time.
However, it was what God wanted.
I learned how to be myself.
I learned how to like myself.
Eventually I learned how to let God heal me and how to practice listening prayer.
I learned how to listen and watch for the movement of the Spirit.
Philippians 1:21 tells us, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
I learned how to live IN Christ. I learned how to die to my old self so I can make space for my new self in Jesus. I’d been a Christian all my life and yet I didn’t know how to die to self and live for Christ.
Romans 14:8 says, “For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.”
Here’s the key…I learned that I am a child of the most high God and His
son Jesus. The Spirit of God will teach me, speak to me, direct me, and show me the way.
I learned I don’t have to be in charge.
Romans 14:8 in the Message puts it this way, “It’s God we are answerable to—all the way from life to death and everything in between—not each other.”
Wow.
I learned to answer to God. I learned to live in Christ. I learned to listen. I stopped listening to other people and wonder about what they thought of me.
It really was a game-changer!
Spiritual Practice: Listen and Watch
Sit in silence and listen to the voice of God in you. Watch for where God is leading and follow God there.
In God, Deborah
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