Follow God’s Example

 

How can I be more Godly?

 

Acknowledge Your New Life

 

Ephesians 4:22-24

 

22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

 

23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

 

24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

 

We are supposed to put off the lifestyles we lived before we were saved. Notice the contrast between the “old man” and the “new man.” What is different about your life now with regard to your lifestyle and attitude from before you were saved or even before you submitted to Christ after you were saved?

 

Read 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15; Romans 12: 1-3.

 

You are going to be limited in how you can put on the new man and renew your mind in direct proportion to how your attitude and lifestyle are in agreement with the world. You want to argue that there is nothing wrong with alcohol as a recreational beverage? Why not smoking pot? Legality isn’t the issue, God’s demand on your life is the issue. Gambling and looking at pornography are legal within their lawfully prescribed limits but is anyone here going to argue that these things are in keeping with the command to put off the former “conversation” and the “old man” and “be renewed” and “put on the new man”?

 

What about the TYPE of music you listen to when you leave here or your entertainment preferences in general, your attitude toward money; borrowing and spending? Your bringing your thoughts into subjection to Christ is limited by your clinging to what is “not so bad” about the world. Read 1 John 2:15 and then 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.

 

I know, without a doubt, that I was saved on March 19, 1986, Wednesday evening, when I prayed with Beth to receive the Lord Jesus Christ but for over a decade and a half I wasn’t worth the shot and powder it would have taken to send me to the lake of fire. I am still the most evil person I have ever personally known but my attitude has changed 180 degrees. Now, that God’s word has gotten a grip on me I can truly see this verse; Isaiah 1:18.  Every time I plugged a horror movie into the VCR, every time I took out another credit card, every time I lusted after a six pack or a new toy instead of spending money on foreign missions or Bibles to pass out I should have been kicked up and down the street. I suppose, in a manner of speaking, I was.

Implement Continuing Change

 

Ephesians 4:25-32

 

4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

4:27 Neither give place to the devil.

4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

 

Obviously, this series of verses are worth about a year of Bible study, one at a time. Each of the admonitions listed above carries its own weight of sorrow and regret for the Christian. So much of this has to do with an ignorance about and ignoring of Christ’s admonition in Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; & Luke 9:23 to deny yourself. So many of our sins as Christians have to do with rejecting Galatians 6:3 about our self importance and forgetting who we are to serve. If any person has him or herself on the throne of their heart then they will spend their earthly life running errands for a corpse, as Bob Jones, Sr. used to say. Remember these verses the next time someone has hurt your feelings, not given you your “propers”, or undermined your authority, or showed you disrespect (in your mind) on the job or at home. I have more regrets about not shutting up and waiting to see what was real about a situation and shooting off my mouth with regard to anger, lying, hateful and manipulative speech, bitterness, wrath, clamour (an outcry, crying, “waa, waa, waa” in other words), evil speaking, malice, and an overall selfish lack of kindness and “seeking my own” than almost anything else. Quit looking out for yourself and start looking out for Christ and many of these things will fall away from you. I have a HUGE problem with the way I think I should be treated and the way I am treated by people close to me. At times I feel like I have the ego of Alexander the Great but with the life’s accomplishments of a “Walter Mitty”.

Imitate the Compassionate Father

 

Ephesians 5:1-2, 8-10

 

5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)

5:10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.   Now, I must admit I have a real problem with the modern Christian’s love of the word, imitate. I think of an imitator as an actor, a hypocrite, a fake. I can’t imitate Christ in literally following Him to the cross to save the world but there are a lot of professing Christians who think that a smarmy attitude, a limp wrist, and mincing speech makes them seem more spiritual and godly. In fact, I’ve heard many speakers talk about how harmless and meek and mild Christ was on earth when He talked about Hell and unquenchable fire and let the religious elite of His time know right where they DIDN’T stand with God the Father more than almost any other subject. Paul, the greatest Christian that ever lived, was in the face of more people in authority in a religious and political sense than you or I will ever have the chance of being. There wasn’t anything limp-wristed or “I walk on eggshells” about any prophet, apostle, or our Saviour.   But, back to the verses. We are to follow Christ and live like it, walk like it. Remember what the Bible defines as a Christian in Acts 11:26 and then follow that word back to Luke 14:26, 27, 33.   Now, let’s read Romans 12:1-3 again. This is a process and you haven’t arrived yet. So, read Philippians 2:12 and understand that while you were saved once and for all and can’t get unsaved, you can sure be a prisoner of war to Satan if you don’t take this Book seriously and experience your relationship with the Lord each and every day.   Do you want to live a more godly life? You are to follow God’s example and you follow the Lord Jesus Christ in obedience to the word of God.              “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are  passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 How new are you?