Blog

What if we were to follow the scripture in Romans 13:14 that says “clothe yourself with the presence of the LORD Jesus Christ.” What if we not only followed it, or listened to it, but actually did clothe ourselves with the presence of Jesus. What do I even mean by that? What if ever interaction and thought was brought into submission of a sort of Jesus filter within? What if our thoughts were directed more toward loving better? Serving better? What if we thought more highly of others than we did of ourselves and our wants and desires?

Jesus did.

At times Jesus was facing exhaustion. There was so much need around Him. He would spend enormous amounts of time and energy teaching, listening, healing, and in the constant presence of needy people. Even as he was living this way, he would be simultaneously under constant scrutiny. He didn’t take vacations. He didn’t put out a closed sign on a storefront. He continually modeled for us what it looked like to put others before himself. His only “alone time” is actually those times mentioned where he went off to pray, or his time in the wilderness of Temptation. My guess is, even in those times, others were on his mind. We were on his mind.

Why don’t we live this way? Why do we prefer to go through life living for ourselves? We are quick to take offense to what others say and do. We are quick to make judgments without knowing the background. We look at each other through some sort of dysfunctional lens instead of as people who hold great value and worth to the One who created them.

What if we made a decision to shape the way we think? What if we began to step back from our emotion and it’s controlling (and sometimes illogical) drive? What if we defaulted to the truth of God’s Word and let that be our filter?

Last night in our Christian Life class at church, one of our ladies, Teresa, shared of an instance where she was sitting in church. She had on some perfume. During worship someone began saying loud enough for her to hear things like, “Oh my gosh! Who’s wearing that perfume! It’s so strong! It’s so awful!” Apparently, this person moved over away from Teresa, and was still making a monologue. “I can still smell it! Disgusting!” That kind of thing…

Well, Teresa, who was wearing the perfume obviously had her feelings hurt. The “offended one” hadn’t handled the situation well at all. Had she handled her frustration about the perfume like Christ? No. But here’s the remarkable thing: Teresa shared that she was upset at the time of the incident, but that by the time she got home, she was downright mad. In fact, she was ready to pour on even more perfume for the next Sunday! (Isn’t that our human nature?) And then something happened. Something called conviction. Teresa heard God tell her, “No. You wear less.” Ouch. Why? Had she done something wrong in wearing perfume to church? No. In an effort to be more like Christ, we have to be willing to die to self, and place others into a role of higher significance than ourselves. We have to be ready and willing to listen to God’s prompting. We have to be ready and willing to put aside our hurts and offended feelings, and default to the Word of God – the Word of Truth. If we don’t, we will never live like Christ.

Christ clothed himself with the fruit of the Spirit. He was clothed with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. How are we doing? Where parts are we forgetting to put on? Without changing our mindset, retraining our brain, and asking for the LORD’s help in this, we will never succeed.

Let’s start with love. “Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.” (Romans 12:9-10) Love those that are easy to love. Love those that are not. Let love be the filter through which all our dealings are run through – both thought and actions.

We will be recognized as Christ followers by the way that we love one another.

Blessings!