Friday, February 19, 2010

The Same Heart




“then make my joy complete by being like-minded,

having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.”

Philippians 2:2 (NIV)





Paul tells the Philippians to be of similar minds. This thought could be understood to have two meanings. 1. Every one who works for the Lord should understand the thinking of those with whom they minister. 2.All who minister in the name of Christ should have His mind.

To have the same heart that of Jesus. Charles Sheldon wrote a classic, In His Steps-What Would Jesus Do? The story told of a church who had an unusual visitor one Sunday. Something happened that caused the pastor to reevaluate his walk with the Lord. The entire congregation was invited to enter into this project of asking themselves, “What would Jesus do?” before they made any decisions. Asking that one question changed the lives of a lot of the people.

Paul challenges us to be “one in spirit and purpose”. Here he speaks of unity. Again our souls should be melded into one with each other and with Jesus Christ. A hymn written by Peter Scholtes in the 1960’s speaks of this concept. “They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love” The first verse starts out, “We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord. . .” That verse ends with the line, “And we pray that all unity may one day be restored.” The writer has some wonderful thoughts in the verses that follow.

Periodically, God’s children should ask if we are of the same mind as Jesus.

3 comments:

  1. Great post. I am clearly a work in progress....growing closer to HIM each day.
    Blessings, andrea

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good thoughts. Thanks for the encouragement to check my walk with the Lord.
    Happy and blessed weekend,
    Karen

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is so true. We need to examine our attitudes and actions.

    Hugs,
    Jen

    ReplyDelete

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