We’ve been saying that having the mind of Christ means we have His attitude. This devotional reading looks at how that attitude can be carried out by our actions.
Nuggets
- Jesus submitted His Will to God, always being obedient to Him.
- Jesus taught us not to grumble and complain about our circumstances.
- Jesus didn’t concern Himself with death, persecution, and what opinion others had of Him.
- Jesus taught us to want more for others than for ourselves.
The first devotion in this series in the study talked about Who Jesus was. The second devotion talked about His view on sin and sinful man.
In this devotion, we are going to talk about characteristics Jesus had, which we can imitate.
Let's Put It into Context
To read devotions in the Habitual Holiness of Heart and Life theme, click the button below.
Here is a running list of nuggets for the theme.
Devotions in the Commit to Grow Our Habits study
Here is a running list of nuggets for the study.
The foundation of this series in the study is from two sermons.
Resource
Self-Denial
“And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me’” (Lk. 9: 23 ESV)
Jesus submitted His Will to God, always being obedient to Him.
One of the things Jesus is known for is being obedient to God, even when He was called to do something He really would have rather not done. Think about the Garden of Gethsemane.
“And he said, ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will’” (Mk. 14: 36 ESV).
This is said by someone Who would obviously not want to die.
But Jesus did anyway.
It is called self-denial. Self-denial is the giving up anything that is contrary or in competition with that which Jesus teaches or calls us to do.
Rawnsley told us what that looks like for us.
- We give up something that would benefit us in order to do something that would benefit others.
- We give up popularity to stick with our principles.
- We give up what would bring us wealth and pleasure to serve God.
Resource
Think about the disciples. True, many of them were fishermen. Some people said they would not have given up much because they didn’t have anything.
But they gave up their family. As far as we know, all but Peter were unmarried. Still, they were probably all at the age where they would have been expected to settle down and start raising a family.
What they were not expected to do was to go galavanting all over the known world.
Jesus told us how to respond to God’s Will over our own. “As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ Yet another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord, it let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God’” (Lk. 9: 57-22 ESV).
Ouch. Can’t we even mourn for family?
Yes. Stuart said what Jesus was saying here is that we can’t be hasty, tardy, or have a divided heart.
Resource
We are to come when God calls. We have to put God first as Jesus did, regardless of how this world pulls our focus off Him.
Aitken made a good point. Self-denial has nothing to do with redemption. We don’t get salvation by living a life of self-denial.
Redemption is where God bestows His gift of grace on us in order to deliver us from sin.
- Grace is a free and unmerited gift of love from the Heavenly Father, given through His Son, Jesus Christ, that enables salvation and spiritual healing to believers by the work of the Holy Spirit.
- Sin is not believing that Jesus is our Savior to save us from our actions by humans that disobey God and break one of His reasonable, holy, and righteous laws and commandments, goes against a purpose He has for us, or follows Satan’s promptings.
- Holy means to be set apart — because of our devotion to God — to become perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues and to serve and worship God.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God to further His kingdom instead of enhancing this world.
- Sanctified means to be set free from sin.
- Righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
- Pure means not being sinful or having the stain of sin.
- Virtues are standards of moral excellence.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Holy means to be set apart — because of our devotion to God — to become perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues and to serve and worship God.
Salvation is the gift of life through the deliverance from condemnation and sin to acceptance and holiness and changes us from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
- Holiness is the transcendent excellence of His nature that includes elements of purity, dedication, and commitment that lead to being set apart.
- Purity means possessing God’s moral character, having eliminated the stain of sin.
- Spiritual death is the spiritual separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
- The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Glossary
Aitken also pointed out that self-denial does not mean we give up pleasure. God wants us to have joy, but that joy must be found in Him.
Resource
Self-denial means nothing without the rest of the verse. “… take up his cross daily and follow me” (Lk. 9: 23 ESV).
This isn’t about putting others before us — i.e., being a good person. We have to put God before us.
Resource
Our self-denial must have God as the focus.
Non-Complaining
“So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer” (Lk. 23: 9 ESV)
Jesus taught us not to grumble and complain about our circumstances.
Ooo, baby! Isn’t this topic appropriate after talking about self-denial?
We are to submit our will to God’s — and not complain about it!
If we analyze the situation, we would probably say Herod was more interested in seeing a miracle than seeing a Savior. He wanted spectacle, not salvation.
Herod had an audience with Jesus for the wrong reasons.
But wasn’t Jesus used to that?
- “So Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe’” (Jn. 4: 48 ESV).
- “Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves’” (Jn. 6: 26 ESV).
True, this is a little different. Jesus is on trial here. His very life is at stake.
Does Jesus say, “This isn’t fair because I am an innocent Man”? No.
Instead, Jesus fulfilled prophecy. “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth” (Isa. 53: 7 ESV).
We are to imitate Jesus. When we are falsely accused for His Name — or accused because we are a child of God — we are to remain silent.
Girdlestone took our not complaining a step farther. He said that we are not only supposed to not complain about what God calls us to do, but we are also not supposed to complain when we think someone else is better off than we are.
Oh, no. Not us.
We see someone who is better off than we are because they worked, scrimped, and saved because of their focus, and we feel entitled to the same — without the worked, scrimped, saved and focus.
We aren’t. God calls us to work. He has given each of us a job to do.
Fearless
“Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: ‘Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth’” (Ac. 8: 32 ESV)
Jesus didn’t concern Himself with death, persecution, and what opinion others had of Him.
So, we just talked about this verse, but we used what Isaiah actually said about Jesus being the suffering Servant.
Now, we’re going to look at this through a different lens. This verse shows how Jesus did not fear death.
Think about what Rawnsley said. Jesus didn’t care about public opinion, persecution, and death. He was focused on completing God’s Will.
Resource
There are so many things we fear. Death and persecution are way up there.
Jesus said that we do not have to fear either.
- “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mt. 10: 28 ESV).
- “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6: 23 ESV).
- “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake” (Mt. 24: 9 ESV).
We know we can put our faith and trust in Jesus because He has already overcome these. He will guide us through.
Non-Contentious
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Mt. 5: 43-45 ESV)
Jesus taught us to want more for others than for ourselves.
Smyth talked about Jesus’ imperative speeches. He wrote, “He keeps up to His own superior level of command upon all occasions and before all men.”
Resource
Jesus’ attitude did not change based on the situation He found Himself to be in at the moment. His attitude was the same regardless of the offense He might have felt at that time.
Smyth pointed out it takes more power to keep Jesus’ attitude in everyday trials than it does to perform a perform a miracle over nature.
Jesus calls us to deny our sinful nature and grow to have the attributes of God’s character.
Making the Connections
I know. There is no way we are going to be able to do all this and never mess up. Luckily, we don’t have to worry about that.
Remember we said Jesus overcame, so we can, too. God does obedience, but He wants our hearts. We want to be like Jesus.
How Do We Apply This?
- Practice self-denial daily, keeping the focus on God.
- Do not complain about the circumstances into which God puts us.
- Be content in all circumstances.
- Always be obedient to God.
Resources
Father God, we want to be like Jesus. We want to be obedient in all things. We want to deny ourselves and follow Him daily. Thank you for forgiving us when we sin. Amen.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
If you don’t understand something and would like further clarification, please contact me.
If you have not signed up for the email providing the link to the devotions and the newsletter, do so below.
If God has used this devotion to speak with you, consider sharing it on social media.