pleased not himself

Daily Bread Logo by Charlie Darnell

GOD’S WORD DAILY

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 116 FEBRUARY 18, 2002

JESUS CHRIST:
The Foundation of our Faith

PLEASED NOT HIMSELF!

     Jesus had a joyous life on earth, full of confidence and peace. He was
     thoroughly acquainted with God and His power. His life on earth was full of
     adventure and excitement! But Jesus did not live his life based on his own
     desire for excited emotions and thrills, nor did he live his life for the
     purpose of fulfilling the lusts of the flesh and mind. Instead, He lived
     his life to bear the burdens of the weak and to carry their load, bringing
     them unto the Father. He deferred pleasing himself to build up others instead.

     What a challenge we have! Our current culture actively promotes the pursuit of
     pleasure. It erroneously encourages us to do whatever feels good, regardless of the
     immoral, unethical or irresponsible implications! When we say we are
     Christians and those we speak to about Christ see us in pursuit of worldly
     pleasures, we have not lifted their burdens, nor brought them closer to the
     Kingdom of God.

     We all know what it is like to want to do something very much, but defer our own
     desires to someone else's need. It's no big deal to do so unless we make
     a big deal out of it, with temper tantrums, murmuring, complaining or disputing.
     For example, I wanted to go to a specific movie but my mom would not permit me
     to do so. We did something else that was more beneficial.

I could decide to go along with the change willingly or with hardness of heart. I
could be thankful or complain.

Situations that require change on our part can be easy or hard, depending not on
the situation, but depending upon our attitude about it, our focus and our heart.

     Jesus is the perfect example of the lifestyle to defer to others' spiritual needs ahead
     of pleasuring himself. He did not enjoy being tortured and murdered for us. To put it mildly,
     it was not pleasant. But He endured the pain, for the joy that would follow. [Hebrews 12:2,3]

     It is not pleasant to be despised, threatened, condemned, accused, railed on, chided, betrayed,
     persecuted, and lied about. Its not pleasant to live one day to the next without a permanent
     dwelling place, moving from town to town to preach the gospel. Its not pleasant to be
     thronged by crowds of needy, insecure people. Its not pleasant to continually bear up
     the weaknesses of those who ought to know better. Yet, Jesus did all of this and more
     without complaint! His focus was upon God, to carry the weaknesses of others, to edify
     them, for their good.

Romans 15:1-3

          We then that are strong [powerful & capable]
          ought to bear [ remove, lift, carry] the infirmities
          [the weaknesses in conscience, the feebleness ]
          of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

Let every one of us please his neighbour for his
good to edification [for his structure, for his building up]

For even Christ pleased not himself[through
the idea of exciting the emotions, to be agreeable to self]

Spiritually, we who are instructed in the Word and who have seen the power of God
at work, ought to stop living to please ourselves.

Below are many different examples of this:

You enjoy sleeping late on Sunday morning. You decide to host fellowship at your
house anyway. This puts others' spiritual needs and their edification above your own pleasure.
You enjoy watching a certain TV program every Tuesday night, but someone calls you for
help. You go over to their house to encourage them instead. This puts their spiritual need
above your own pleasure.
It would please you to go see the R rated movie, which promotes promiscuity and violence
with your weaker brother. But will going to see it help him grow stronger in the Lord?
You suggest seeing another movie instead.
You want to go to a local bar for a few drinks and to dance. You know a new Christian
goes there sometimes. She is an alcoholic. If you go and she sees you drinking, will she see
the Word living in you? Will your liberty in Christ affect her choice to continue getting drunk?
You decide to call her to go somewhere that alcohol is not served instead.
Will gossiping about others help or hinder someone else's faith? Will using curse words
help or hinder others in Christ ? It may please you to speak in this manner, but you decide
to speak words that edify people instead.

     I can go on and on with similar examples. All things are lawful in Christ, because
     of God's rich love, grace and mercy, but all things are not profitable. All things
      are not edifying to others.

     Jesus is our example. He pleased not himself! He bore the weaknesses of others for
      their own good and edified them instead, bringing them into the Kingdom of God.
      Let's do the same. Amen.

-Carol Kenreigh

REQUESTS

COMMENTS

     Thanks for the lessons - especially this one today. [Jesus:The Head of the Church]
      God bless your heart!
      Karen

Please mail comments to cjl8e@yahoo.com

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