May the God who gives
endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each
other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may
glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
To live the way he did and stay the course without fail,
Christ must have had incredible endurance. Especially since he was fully aware
of what the course entailed and how things would shake out in the end. He knew
that with each day, there would be those conspiring to bring him down…those
threatening his life, cursing his name, ridiculing his very image and calling
into question his proclaimed purpose. And he knew that in the end, he would have
to endure an excruciating death. In short, he had buckets of discouragement resting
on his shoulders. By worldly standards, he would have been completely justified
to strike back at those that opposed him, fighting fire with fire. Yet he did not.
By worldly standards, it would have been appropriate for him to reach his fill of
opposition and just walk away from the journey altogether. Yet he did not. He
endured, he persevered, he continued in unshakable obedience to complete the mission
that his Father had sent him on. God sent him to love, to build up, to
encourage, to heal, to redirect, to inspire, and ultimately, to save. While we
can’t save as Christ saved, we can love, inspire, encourage, redirect, and build-up
as Christ did. We are encouraged by Paul in Romans 15:2 to love those around us…“Each of us should please our neighbors for
their good, to build them up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it
is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” For we
see that Christ did not live the life he did for his benefit…no, he did everything
for the benefit of others and to glorify his Father in heaven. It seems to
completely contradict how the world lives today, yet it’s completely valid,
relevant, and applicable in our lives. When God plants endurance and
encouragement in our hearts and minds to do his good work, we find the ability,
the strength, and the opportunity to mirror Christ in our interactions with
others. And when we do so, we bring glory to God…we shine the light on him and
we bring his name to a broken world. There is no greater purpose in each day
than to mirror the Savior and bring glory to our Creator! Seek that today. To
God alone be all glory!
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