Copy Him

" Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind."

(Philippians 2:1-2)

I love how these verses are worded. It is almost like they are asking 'Do you have any encouragement from your relationship with Christ? Does His love comfort you? Does your spirit agree with His? Have you received tenderness and compassion from Him?' Of course we are going to say 'yes' to all the above. Our lives are richer and fuller and more complete since having Jesus in our hearts. So 'yes', 'yes', 'yes!'

But then the writer goes on to say, since you have all those benefits from having a relationship with Christ copy or imitate Him. We are to show the love of Christ, which we have freely received, to others. We are to show the same tenderness and compassion we have received and we are to be in unity with the Believers. That's not always easy to do but if we remind ourselves of all that Christ forgave us of and how much He loves us and cares for us, how can we do any less to those we meet?

Every time I find myself beginning to hold something against someone, I am reminded of the parable that Jesus told of the man who owed a great sum of money and was forgiven of his debt but when given the chance to do the same for a man who owed him money, he was unmerciful. God has forgiven me of many things, in fact he has forgiven me of all my sins, so how can I hold something against someone else? They are just as flawed as I am and I am no better, I am forgiven so I must forgive. 

In all things be imitators of Christ. As much as it is in your power to be like Him, choose to copy Him. It will be a journey which will bring you closer to Him. God bless.

Matthew 18:23-35

“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

“The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’

“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.

“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”