by Mike Ratliff
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:43-45 ESV)
If an enemy attacks we will respond one of three ways. We may choose to fight or we may choose to not react or we may choose to respond in love. My natural response is to fight, however, when I am in false humility mode where I am trying to please God in my flesh (wrong choice), I will respond by doing nothing or even ignoring the one(s) who are attacking. Since that is usually how I respond, that should tell you what a struggle it is for me in this battle with my pride.
Jesus told us to love our enemies and pray for them. That means that the third option is the one we must choose. How can we? Is this natural? No, it isn’t. Only the Spirit-filled or Spirit-led believer can do this consistently.
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:18-21 ESV)
We are to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. That is not to submit only to those we love. We are to turn the other cheek. (Matthew 5:39) There is a predominate teaching in the Church these days that says God doesn’t want believers to suffer or be persecuted or belittled or mocked or taken advantage of. I challenge anyone who holds that teaching to justify it after reading Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is or example.
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:1-4 ESV)
We are called to be active in our faith, not passive, in our walk before the face of God. Genuine humility is active and its expression through us via the moving of the Holy Spirit within us is to respond to all circumstances as Jesus would. When we are Spirit-filled like this we will see others as more important than ourselves. Since our faith is active, we will also look after the interests of others, not just our own. Notice, our unity with the brethren is based within this active faith.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11 ESV)
Jesus’ sheep are called to have the mind of Christ. That means that we must also take on the form of a servant. Who are we to serve? We do this when we submit to others. We also do this when we turn the other cheek and love our enemies and pray for them.
Servants must put their master first, not themselves. Joel Osteen preaches a message that is totally self-focused. His whole message is focused on blessings flowing from God to the people. Any good works are done for the blessing. Any giving is done so more can be received. However, Jesus example for us is to put God first, serve Him and possess our treasure in Heaven rather than here on Earth.
On the other hand, don’t we look at our suffering as what good thing God is going to work in us through it? That is still self-focus. Paul was given a thorn in the flesh to keep him humble. God told him that His grace was sufficient to deal with it. God is glorified when we are Spirit-filled because that is the only time we are genuinely humble. We cannot make ourselves humble by trying to be so via will power. That, again, is false humility. Genuine humility is a fruit of being Spirit-filled, which God commands us to be.
What are the means of being Spirit-filled? We must confess our sins then surrender our will, intellect, body, time, talent, possessions, and desires to God. Selfishness must die along with self-will. We can do this only by taking the Word of Christ (scripture) and letting it indwell and infuse every part of our being. This is to be filled with His Word. As we do this we will live in consciousness of the personal presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, as if we were standing next to Him. Then we must let His mind dominate our lives. This is having the mind of Christ. When we have the mind of Christ we walk through each day by walking thought-by-thought, decision-by-decision, act-by-act under the Spirit’s control. This means as we prepare to make a choice or decision we also listen to the speaking of God’s Word in our hearts in comparison to what we are preparing to do. If we are to maintain a walk that is Spirit-led then we must surrender each of these decisions to the Spirit instead of insisting on our own way.
If we choose to surrender, we will remain Spirit-led and will grow in grace and humility. On the other hand, if we choose self-will then we become like a sailboat that has tacked so that the wind is no longer filling the sails. We must confess our sins and repent at that point, fully surrendering ourselves to God. If we do this then God is gracious and, in His timing, will allow us to turn our sails once again into the wind of the Holy Spirit who will move us in the direction God desires for us to go.
I find myself having done #1, done #2, and still trying to work on #3. The way I found myself able to do this is this: Remember that we are in a spiritual battle and who is pushing the buttons here. If we were like Jesus, we would do #3 all the time. But for those who are not saved, we have to realize who their father is. They need prayer big time. Only He can regenerate them. They need prayer, not our ‘flesh’. Easy to say, hard to do most of the time. My nasty flesh gets in the way and I know better! I think I will have this one to work on until the day I get to be with Him if I am honest here. Good things to think about Mike.
Yes Paul, it is all about focus. If we are self-focused/centered we are not Spirit-filled. Warning, warning, warning! If we are experiencing the emotions that revolve around self then we are not Spirit-filled. If we are Spirit-filled then our focus will be outward not inward.
Good article that I think about quite a bit. I do a lot of praying about my anger problem. Anger, repent, pray. A form of pride? I will have to think about that one. Paul, your so right. I keep forgetting that. I was putting on the armor but I took down my reminder.I will go find it and re-tape it to my wall until it’s ingrained in my heart. Thanks Mike
Hi Mike,
Wow, my last three posts never made it, but Internet Explorer 7.0 doesn’t like WordPress, apparently, so let’s see if Firefox 2.0.0.9 gets this through.
This is really food for thought for me. I’d love to have a clarifcation on something, though.
You say:
>On the other hand, don’t we look at our suffering as what
>good thing God is going to work in us through it? That is
>still self-focus.
The Word says:
“But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” (1Peter 4:13, NIV)
And…
“Not only so, but let us rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perserverance;…”
(Romans 5:3, NIV)
So while we shouldn’t focus on ourselves, we should focus on having the right attitude. Is this what you mean?
Take care and may God continue to keep blessing the socks off your ministry and writing!
Gilbert
Mike,
Now that I had some sleep, all self thinking is pride. Putting on the armor of God today so I will be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. Have a blessed day all.
This reminds of the time, a few years back, when our neighborhood had to endure the family from hell. The kids were abusive to all the neighbors. They would jump their bikes in the street and swear at everyone who dared drive down the road. They showed no respect for our properties and theirs was an eyesore in the neighborhood. People were putting up fences to keep the rugrats out! Our then pastor told us that we shouldn’t expect better from those who do not know the Lord. One day one of the kids threw a firework (M80 ) at me while I was on the ladder cleaning my windows! Aargh! I was at my wit’s end! Praying about this, I sensed the Lord telling me I hadn’t prayed for them. I daily prayed for their salvation and for deliverence from them, but for their blessing-no. In spite of having a park at one end of our street and a school’s playground at the other end, I decicded the kids needed a yard of their own. So I prayed for God to bless them with a home for the family with a big yard. I also quit complaining and would not listen to it concerning them. Shortly after, the family moved out and I later learned that they had a huge yard in which to play. After 7 years of complaining, trying to get along, and calling the police on them, when I finally prayed for their welfare, we found deliverence. And the blessing I received was not the relief of them being gone, but the spiritual maturity I gained. Whether my enemies change or not, I am the one changed with spiritual growth and more dependance on God when I pray for them. I don’t say to myself, “That’s O.K., God sees! Payday is someday!”, leaving it at that. I learned that difficult people are in our lives because God has put them there for us to pray for them and to know growth and dependance on Him. I learned, also, that anger accomplishes nothing, not even any relief in letting off steam. It only makes it worse for me. I may still have pride to deal with here, but I do not want to have to apologize to my enemy for blowing up at them!
You are welcome Deb!
Hi Gilbert. I have no idea what is going on with your wordpress account. I found your comment in my spam folder and unspammed it.
Yes, those passages tell us that God will work that good in us when we work with Him in our suffering, but our focus should be on His glory, not those things. If we focus on the outcome instead of His glory then we are actually cultivating more self-focus. This is about learning to be selfless and humble.
In Christ
Mike Ratliff
Sherry C,
Great example! I believe you were experiencing a thorn in the flesh my sister! I am very guilty of option two. Instead of praying for those people who are inconsiderate and rude and pushy and obnoxious, etc. I usually try my best to not react at all. As you showed in your example, that wasn’t what God wanted. Fighting back is is no better. Oh, we need to be judicious with that, but most of time, if we respond in love in face of things like this, God will work it out for good and He does answer our prayers.
In Christ
Mike Ratliff
Mike, this is so true. I recently went through a battle between my flesh and what the Word clearly instructed me to do in reaction to one who made herself my enemy. My reaction to her sin against me was to “write her off”…never mind that I KNEW Jesus said, “If your brother sins against you, rebuke him” and “if your brother offends you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.” My flesh wanted to skip the part that brings a resolution. I struggled with this for some time, praying for her (I managed that much) and holding onto a letter I knew she needed. My flesh said, “She was there…I don’t need to tell her she offended me.” Then when I decided I needed to just do it, my flesh said, “But make sure you cc the letter to your pastor so she can’t twist your words.” Finally one day I woke up and realized all of this was my PRIDE at work. I sent the letter and SHE WAS SO BLESSED. She honestly had convinced herself she had not sinned against me. She needed my gentle, loving correction and admission of how she hurt me. She humbly repented, I forgave her, and there is reconciliation now.
Sometimes we have to step out and do what the Word says no matter how silly or fruitless it seems it would be. Pride could have stopped a real healing to this relationship and real growth in my friend’s walk with the Lord…and mine!
God bless!
Sharon,
Thanks for sharing that. What our pride desires seems so right to our flesh. That is why we can do no better than wallow in self-focused mediocrity unless we are Spirit-filled. The person whose sails are filled with the wind of the Holy Spirit does not have any easier time of it, they just operate in light of the Word of Christ in all parts of their life. What is so sad is how far apart these spirit-led events are in our lives.
In Christ
Mike Ratliff
Mike,
So do I. 
That’s so true. Scolding my grandsons doesn’t do much but rile them up more, sometimes. In the midst of their
naughtyness if I just start playing worship and Christians music and talk about Jesus they calm right down.