Every day, people make excuses for pride, anger, selfishness, or any sin really, with the thought that “I earned this”, “I deserve this”, “this is my life, I can do whatever I want to do.” You and I, may be guilty of making all sorts of choices and decisions, by justifying them with many of these excuses. We trick ourselves into believing that the sin is okay, if we have some “valid” reason as to why it’s okay. The amount of times I heard growing up from other adults, and even to this day I hear it from many adults to their children, “I can say bad words, because I am a grown up, and you aren’t” or “I am allowed to get a little drunk, because I am of age.” Maybe you have heard these justifications or maybe you have used them yourself, maybe it is not those specific examples, but something similar—trust me, I have made similar excuses or justifications for things, so mark me as guilty.
However, as Christians, this type of attitude is not the attitude we are to have. We are called to do our very best, in being an ambassador of Christ to the world. We are called to give up the right to ourselves, and to be a light into this world. If we live like everyone else, giving all sorts of justifications and excuses for sinful actions, how on earth is that being a light or an ambassador to this world? If we look like the world, we are in MAJOR trouble. In Philippians 2:5-11, we are told that in our relationships with each other, we are to have the same mind as Christ, and you know what he did? He humbled himself, for us. He poured out his life, for us. He helped the poor, widows, the sick and lame. He didn’t come down from heaven, to live for himself—because he could have—he came down from heaven to literally die for you and me. So, the model that we have to live here on earth in relationship with each other, is one dedicated to love, humility, and service. It is saying “I may have earned this money, because the Lord provided, so I will help someone with it”, or “I have worked hard all day, and though I may deserve to sit and do nothing, I can help my neighbor.” This attitude change is hard, because it is countercultural to what we are told to be like in this world. But, we can do it!!
The life of humility and service, is a life of surrendering our rights, in order for us to be a light and an ambassador in this world, for Christ. This is the attitude we as Christians need to mature in, or else we run the risk of being no different than the rest of the world. Will it be easy? No. Will we miss out on recognition or rewards? Maybe. But we aren’t meant to live our lives for ourselves. Christ wants to use each one of us, but to do so, we have to humble ourselves, surrender our rights to him…so that, we can be effective in our loving service for him.
However, as Christians, this type of attitude is not the attitude we are to have. We are called to do our very best, in being an ambassador of Christ to the world. We are called to give up the right to ourselves, and to be a light into this world. If we live like everyone else, giving all sorts of justifications and excuses for sinful actions, how on earth is that being a light or an ambassador to this world? If we look like the world, we are in MAJOR trouble. In Philippians 2:5-11, we are told that in our relationships with each other, we are to have the same mind as Christ, and you know what he did? He humbled himself, for us. He poured out his life, for us. He helped the poor, widows, the sick and lame. He didn’t come down from heaven, to live for himself—because he could have—he came down from heaven to literally die for you and me. So, the model that we have to live here on earth in relationship with each other, is one dedicated to love, humility, and service. It is saying “I may have earned this money, because the Lord provided, so I will help someone with it”, or “I have worked hard all day, and though I may deserve to sit and do nothing, I can help my neighbor.” This attitude change is hard, because it is countercultural to what we are told to be like in this world. But, we can do it!!
The life of humility and service, is a life of surrendering our rights, in order for us to be a light and an ambassador in this world, for Christ. This is the attitude we as Christians need to mature in, or else we run the risk of being no different than the rest of the world. Will it be easy? No. Will we miss out on recognition or rewards? Maybe. But we aren’t meant to live our lives for ourselves. Christ wants to use each one of us, but to do so, we have to humble ourselves, surrender our rights to him…so that, we can be effective in our loving service for him.