Friday, March 9, 2012

Like-minded

“. . . 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 that had an unusual visitor one Sunday. Something happened that caused the pastor to re-evaluate 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. When we do this exercise, we should go back to the basics of our faith and search our hearts for the way God wants us to live. If anything that displeases God comes to our hearts and minds, we need to make things right with Him.

6 comments:

  1. I find that the best way to know what Jesus would do is to read and meditate in the New Testment.

    Thanks for this post!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jeanette:
    Thank you for your thought. I know you are very busy at the moment.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree with Jeanette; that's a good way to measure things. You pose good questions and food for thought Cecelia. Thank you! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love the verse that says, "but we have the mind of Christ." This post reminds me of that. It helps me and gives me assurance that as His child, I really do have His mind and His spirit within. Such an important truth!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Rhonda:
    Thank you for your thoughts.
    God gives His children His values and His heart. We also have the Biblical truth that He gives us His mind.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Karen:
    Thank you for your thought. When we become babes in Christ, we have to learn that Jesus is the standard. Sometimes, it takes a long time to understand this about our new life in Christ.

    ReplyDelete

I would be honored to hear what you think about this.

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