Maturity through obedience

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death
even death on a cross! Philippians 2: 5 – 8

If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. John 15: 10

I have been very challenged recently by the obedience of Jesus even to death on a cross. Jesus knew that the only way that sinful men, whom he loved so much, could be saved from sin and death was by his death at the hands of those very same sinful men.  It was sheer obedience to the Father that took him to and through the death on the cross.  Jesus had in mind the bigger picture, the salvation of the world, rather than his own personal comfort or desires.

This thought though can be rather overwhelming for those of us struggling with obedience on a much smaller scale. Jesus has set such a high standard that we feel we cannot get anywhere near so there can be a tendency to not even try especially when God seems to be asking us to do something that we find quite hard.
The first thing to remember though is that God knows how hard we find it and is only asking for our obedience because he knows we can do it, with his help. The second thing to remember is that there is always a greater good either for us or someone else or for both. God is not asking us to do something so we can fail but so we can succeed, even if it takes more than one attempt or even several attempts.

God is calling us up to higher things, to a Christ like nature, to maturity and that means obediently walking through some things we may find difficult. Most of us want a life where the flesh does not have to be constantly crucified but that is not the Christian walk. That walk is the one of denying ourselves daily.  Some go too far and are harsh on the body but Paul makes clear in Colossians 2: 23 that this has little value and some just like to indulge themselves. Neither is right.

Our path is one of obedience and some days and times that may be easy and at others very challenging; getting up early to go to the prayer meeting, fasting rather than eating that rather nice food in the fridge, going and talking to a stranger rather than our friends, making a stand against unrighteousness at work and so on. However God is spurring us on to something that will do us good, that will help us know him better and live the life he has planned for us. A self indulged child only thinks about themselves; a child brought up to consider others even when it is inconvenient is a joy to be around.

I am learning a hard truth that I do not need to look after me, to make sure I get what I need and even want. God will look after me and he will do a better job than I will even if it doesn’t always feel like it. Let us be encouraged to persevere in our training in righteousness and to press on to maturity through obedience.

Denying yourself

If any man would come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23

This teaching of Jesus flies full in the face of the prevalent attitude today of entitlement. This says that I am entitled to an education, job, house, family, nice things – in fact anything and my input into it is minimal. Everything needs to come to me just because I am entitled to it. The root of this is in humanism which says that man is of prime importance and God is irrelevant.

This of course is completely the opposite of Jesus’ teaching whereby man finds his satisfaction and fulfilment in his relationship with God, his Creator. In order for this to be fully realised man needs to deny himself and follow Jesus. This sounds like one of the hardest teachings of Jesus and for most of us we read this and think, ‘too hard’ and sort of ignore it. The thought of taking up our cross is so far off our radar that we cannot contemplate it.  The demands of our flesh, even when we are trying our hardest, cry out to fed, nurtured, entertained, indulged and pampered.

Jesus though knew this statement would sound impossible to us but that doesn’t mean it is impossible for God. Whenever we are faced with challenges, especially overwhelming challenges, it is time to fall into the arms of grace, acknowledge our weakness and ask our loving Father for his help to attain the unattainable.  

As with all the ‘hard’ teachings of Jesus such as forgiving your enemies, fasting, being prefect as your heavenly Father is perfect or denying yourself it is a process. God wants us to trust him with and in the process not just give up. Too often Christians give up when things get hard because that is what our flesh wants. Jesus wants us not to give up but to give in, to his will and his Holy Spirit’s grace and help.

Denying yourself is not a natural trait for man but an essential discipline for those who are looking for the fullness of God working in their lives. As self is denied, the spirit flourishes. Paul and Peter talk about not indulging, gratifying or sowing to the sinful nature which leads to destruction but to sow to the spirit which reaps life. Jesus wants us to live and to live to the fullness of his purpose for our life. We are not being asked to deny our self by a hard taskmaster bent on spoiling our fun but from a loving God who wants the best for his beloved children. Freedom from the demands of our selfish selves leads to great liberty to live in the grace and fullness of all that God has for us.