It is not good to compare ourselves with others, but it is wise to learn from others. Paul wrote: \u201cImitate me, just as I imitate Christ.\u201d (I Cor 11:1) It is interesting to examine reasons for words and actions. Of course, God alone knows hearts\u2026 and what He has accomplished in hearts.<\/p>\n
For example, Peter gave the Good Confession when Jesus asked what people were saying about Him: \u201cWho do you say I am?\u201d \u201cYou are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.\u201d Jesus blessed Peter\u2026 but He knew the reason for his friend\u2019s perfect answer: \u201cThis was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven.\u201d (see Matt 16:13-20) In other words: \u201cRight answer, Peter! But don\u2019t take credit for it\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary poured out the precious content of her alabaster jar despite the criticism of other believers in the room. Why did she do this? Perhaps Mary was so grateful her brother Lazarus had been raised from the dead that she was willing to offer her most treasured possession. Or perhaps God had revealed the true worth of His Son to Mary because she had once chosen simply to sit at the Master\u2019s feet. (see Luke 10:38-42) Jesus gave another reason for Mary\u2019s extravagant action: \u201cLeave her alone\u2026 It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.\u201d(John 12:7)<\/p>\n
Sometimes the best examples to follow are those who humbly choose simply to abide in Christ\u2026 with no fanfare. Such disciples tend to have an ever-increasing appreciation of God\u2019s amazing work and a willingness to \u2018become nothing\u2019 so Jesus can become \u2018everything.\u2019 Paul knew he had not arrived (see Phil 3:12-14), but he gave the reason for living the way he did: \u201cI have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.\u201d (Galatians 2:20) In other words: Jesus is the Reason.<\/p>\n
One day God will honor His children who aimed to listen to the Master\u2019s voice and follow Him. They will be caught off guard by the praise of the King: \u201cBut Lord, when did we do this? We only did what You led us to do. Any reason for good in our lives on earth came directly from You. We did not realize when we loved a homeless person, or visited a guy in prison, or took care of a sick friend, or helped feed the hungry or cared for the orphan or served the widow\u2026 we were actually serving You. Jesus, You are our Reason\u2026 and You deserve all the glory.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCome, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me\u2026 Truly I tell you, whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me.\u201d (Matt 25:34-40)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It is not good to compare ourselves with others, but it is wise to learn from others. Paul wrote: \u201cImitate me, just as I imitate Christ.\u201d (I Cor 11:1) It is interesting to examine reasons for words and actions. Of course, God alone knows hearts\u2026 and what He has accomplished in hearts. For example, Peter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jesus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3289"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3292,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3289\/revisions\/3292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}