Christ-like Changes
Christians are not just forgiven of our sins. We are new creations in Christ. We are born again by the Holy Spirit. This transformation does not make us perfect, without sin, but it does enable us to be Christ-like in our behavior. (Ephesians 4:31,32) It is a process of becoming like Christ, and it is God's will for every believer.
Most people have a problem with some kind of anger. We may not blow up out of anger, but we may have seething anger that changes us in our relationships. God commands us to put away all types of anger, as well as evil speaking and malice toward other groups of people. All we have to do is to look at the life of Christ, and we can see the absence of anger in His time on earth. Even when He cleansed the temple of the money-changers, He was not doing it in anger. He was simply cleaning up His Father's house.
Then, when we put away the anger, we are to be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving. This is where most of us have trouble. It is hard to be kind to a difficult person or to be tenderhearted toward those who do all types of terrible things. However, with the power of the Spirit, we can go one step farther than that. We can forgive them, as Christ forgave us. Remember, Christ died for our sins while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8) He did it in love and in mercy toward us. That shows that we can forgive anyone, if we depend on the Lord for His power to forgive. This is a strong testimony to those who don't know Christ, when they see the change in our lives to being more like Christ.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ephesians 6 and Philippians 1-3.
Most people have a problem with some kind of anger. We may not blow up out of anger, but we may have seething anger that changes us in our relationships. God commands us to put away all types of anger, as well as evil speaking and malice toward other groups of people. All we have to do is to look at the life of Christ, and we can see the absence of anger in His time on earth. Even when He cleansed the temple of the money-changers, He was not doing it in anger. He was simply cleaning up His Father's house.
Then, when we put away the anger, we are to be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving. This is where most of us have trouble. It is hard to be kind to a difficult person or to be tenderhearted toward those who do all types of terrible things. However, with the power of the Spirit, we can go one step farther than that. We can forgive them, as Christ forgave us. Remember, Christ died for our sins while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8) He did it in love and in mercy toward us. That shows that we can forgive anyone, if we depend on the Lord for His power to forgive. This is a strong testimony to those who don't know Christ, when they see the change in our lives to being more like Christ.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ephesians 6 and Philippians 1-3.