The Divine Rule Of Life
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Matthew 5:48
Our Lord's exhortation in these verses is to be generous in our behaviour to all men. In the spiritual life beware of walking according to natural affinities. Everyone has natural affinities; some people we like and others we do not like. We must never let those likes and dislikes rule in our Christian life. "If we walk in the light as God is in the light," God will give us communion with people for whom we have no natural affinity.
The Example Our Lord gives us is not that of a good man, or even of a good Christian, but of God Himself. "Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect," show to the other man what God has shown to you; and God will give us ample opportunities in actual life to prove whether we are perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. To be a disciple means that we deliberately identify ourselves with God's interests in other people. "That ye love one another; as I have loved you ... "
The expression of Christian character is not good doing, but God-likeness. If the Spirit of God has transformed you within, you will exhibit Divine characteristics in your life, not good human characteristics. God's life in us expresses itself as God's life, not as human life trying to be godly. The secret of a Christian is that the supernatural is made natural in him by the grace of God, and the experience of this works out in the practical details of life, not in times of communion with God. When we come in contact with things that create a buzz, we find to our amazement that we have power to keep wonderfully poised in the centre of it all.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taken from 'My Utmost for His Highest', by Oswald Chambers.
© 1935 by Dodd Mead & Co., renewed © 1963 by the Oswald Chambers Publications Assn., Ltd., and is used by permission of Barbour Publishing, Uhrichsville, Ohio. All rights reserved.
Lessons Learned: God is perfect. Perfection is the ultimate standard. If we ever try to compare ourselves to anyone or anything else, and thereby build up our pride, we need only look at God's perfection to humble ourselves. Perfection is utterly impossible by our own power. However "with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" (Mat 19:26). God can supply us with the power to accomplish this seemingly impossible task. If we try to attain righteousness by our own means, we will fail, but for those who trust in Jesus Christ, perfect righteousness is possible, because Christ imputes His righteousness to believers. Christians are being conformed to the likeness of Christ, who is the perfect example. But, only by humbly recognizing our utter helplessness and dire need for Christ, can we be given his strength and power.
Applications: Complete, humble submission to the power and authority of Christ is the only way to attain any degree of perfection. I could never achieve it on my own. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5). There must no longer be room for pride in my heart. Before becoming a believer, I was always told to try harder; be the best that I can be; strive for perfection; give 110%. I knew that "perfection" and giving "110%" was impossible, but even as an unbeliever, those exhortations drove me to achieve more than I thought I could. Now, as a follower of Christ, I know that perfection is actually possible, but only in Christ, and through Christ, and by His power. This verse should encourage me to achieve the perfection that comes from loving and serving God and others in a Christ-like manner. I must work hard at all times, but not for my own honor, but for God's glory alone.
Listen to this entry
Matthew 5:48
Our Lord's exhortation in these verses is to be generous in our behaviour to all men. In the spiritual life beware of walking according to natural affinities. Everyone has natural affinities; some people we like and others we do not like. We must never let those likes and dislikes rule in our Christian life. "If we walk in the light as God is in the light," God will give us communion with people for whom we have no natural affinity.
The Example Our Lord gives us is not that of a good man, or even of a good Christian, but of God Himself. "Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect," show to the other man what God has shown to you; and God will give us ample opportunities in actual life to prove whether we are perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. To be a disciple means that we deliberately identify ourselves with God's interests in other people. "That ye love one another; as I have loved you ... "
The expression of Christian character is not good doing, but God-likeness. If the Spirit of God has transformed you within, you will exhibit Divine characteristics in your life, not good human characteristics. God's life in us expresses itself as God's life, not as human life trying to be godly. The secret of a Christian is that the supernatural is made natural in him by the grace of God, and the experience of this works out in the practical details of life, not in times of communion with God. When we come in contact with things that create a buzz, we find to our amazement that we have power to keep wonderfully poised in the centre of it all.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taken from 'My Utmost for His Highest', by Oswald Chambers.
© 1935 by Dodd Mead & Co., renewed © 1963 by the Oswald Chambers Publications Assn., Ltd., and is used by permission of Barbour Publishing, Uhrichsville, Ohio. All rights reserved.
Lessons Learned: God is perfect. Perfection is the ultimate standard. If we ever try to compare ourselves to anyone or anything else, and thereby build up our pride, we need only look at God's perfection to humble ourselves. Perfection is utterly impossible by our own power. However "with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" (Mat 19:26). God can supply us with the power to accomplish this seemingly impossible task. If we try to attain righteousness by our own means, we will fail, but for those who trust in Jesus Christ, perfect righteousness is possible, because Christ imputes His righteousness to believers. Christians are being conformed to the likeness of Christ, who is the perfect example. But, only by humbly recognizing our utter helplessness and dire need for Christ, can we be given his strength and power.
Applications: Complete, humble submission to the power and authority of Christ is the only way to attain any degree of perfection. I could never achieve it on my own. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5). There must no longer be room for pride in my heart. Before becoming a believer, I was always told to try harder; be the best that I can be; strive for perfection; give 110%. I knew that "perfection" and giving "110%" was impossible, but even as an unbeliever, those exhortations drove me to achieve more than I thought I could. Now, as a follower of Christ, I know that perfection is actually possible, but only in Christ, and through Christ, and by His power. This verse should encourage me to achieve the perfection that comes from loving and serving God and others in a Christ-like manner. I must work hard at all times, but not for my own honor, but for God's glory alone.
Listen to this entry
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home