Day 27

“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also the interest of others. Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 2:1-5

How can we hope to achieve to any degree the likeness of Christ? We are not divine in nature as He was. How then do we attain to the mind of Christ when, in the Garden of Eden, we forfeited His life and were all born spiritually dead and corrupt? Though our hearts may be willing, time and again, the flesh which fights against the spirit overcomes, and we find ourselves in a perpetual state of reaching beyond our grasp.

Jesus Himself is our example. Jesus, as a man, professed no ability of His own, and as a man, professed no agenda of His own for He lived exclusively to fulfill the will of His Father, in complete dependence on His Father and obedience to His Father. This was not a passive dependence, but one where He took the nature of a servant, and lived in active obedience within the context of constant dependence.

To have the mind of Christ is to be sceptical of any sense of self-sufficiency, but to realize Christ is our Life, our Strength, our Wisdom and our Righteousness. Jesus died and rose again that having removed our guilt, He might occupy a place in our lives as Lord to direct us, and as our Life to empower us. His will then trumps our convenience and comfort on every level. Obedience to Him, though seemingly costly at times, will always yield the deep satisfaction our hearts look for. Once we have settled the business of dependency upon Him and obedience to Him, there really are no further issues to face. The rest becomes a case of resting in what God does.

The likeness of Christ is not brought about by imitating Christ, or by trying to answer the question, ‘What would Jesus do?’ and hope we come up with the right answer and then the guts to do it! Likeness to Christ is not by imitation, but by letting Jesus Christ be Himself in us, so that ‘it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me’ (Galatians 2:20). We will not see His likeness in ourselves for we will see only the flesh fighting against the Spirit to prevent us from being like Him, but it is others who may see His likeness in us. Our task is to love Jesus, obey Him and trust Him, and everything else will be His doing.

Prayer: Dear Lord, the genuine desire of my heart is that your presence be evident in my life. May I never resort to my own abilities, but be completely dependent upon you as you were upon your father. enable me, by your holy spirit and as my lord, to attain to your mindset and always act in obedience to you. Thank you, lord.

To reflect upon: Are there areas or situations in my life where my dependency upon Christ and obedience to Him are lacking? How can I better reflect the mind of Christ, not only in my everyday living, but in all He has for me to do?