Fruitful Living
A righteousness revolution (Part II Final)
When Paul tells us that our “attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus,” he had summarized in the previous two verses what such an attitude was: selflessness, humility, and service. “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 to the interests of others” – Philippians 2:3-4.
In other words, the attitude a Christian should reflect is one that focuses on the needs and interests of others. Without question, that does not come naturally to us. When Christ came into the world, He established a whole new attitude to relationships with others. One day when His disciples were arguing among themselves regarding who was to be greatest in His kingdom, Jesus said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you.
Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” – Matthew 20:25-28. Jesus is teaching us that, when we become preoccupied with our own things, it can cause conflicts and other problems with people we know. Instead, God wants us to have an attitude of serious, caring involvement in the concerns of others.
Paul speaks more about this Christ-like attitude in his letter to the church in Ephesus: “that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.– Ephesians 4:22-24. Many religions of today, including the New Age philosophies, promote the old lie that we are divine or that we can become gods. But the truth of the matter is that we will never become God, or even a god. Satan’s oldest lie was promising Adam and Eve that, if they followed his advice, “- and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:5, NKJV.
Each time we try to control our circumstances, our future, and the people around us, we’re only demonstrating that we want to be a god. But we must understand that, as creatures, we will never be the Creator. God doesn’t want us to try to become gods. Instead, He wants us to become like Him, taking on His values, His attitudes, and His character. We are meant to “be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” – Ephesians 4:23-24.
Finally, we must always keep in mind that God’s ultimate goal for His children is not our comfort, but the transformation of our minds into the attitude of godliness. He wants us to grow spiritually, to become like Christ. This doesn’t mean losing our personalities or becoming mindless clones. Christlikeness is all about transforming our minds. Again, Paul tells us, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” – Romans 12:2.
It is God’s will that we develop the kind of mindset described in the Beatitudes of Jesus – Matthew 5:1-12, that we exhibit the fruit of the Spirit – Galatians 5:22-23, that we emulate the principles in Paul’s great chapter on love – 1 Corinthians 13, and that we strive to pattern our lives after Peter’s characteristics of an effective and productive life – 2 Peter 1:5-8.
Establishing our actions in righteousness
Every person is commanded to live up to divine standards.
a. In the words of Jesus
“ For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Be ye, therefore, perfect, even as your Father, who is in heaven, is perfect” – Mt. 5:20, 48.
Every person in the world is required to live up to that standard. You say, “You’ve got to be kidding!” No, I’m not. You are obligated to live up to that standard with a pure inside as well as a right outside. But you say, “I can’t!” You are absolutely right. That’s why we are given the solution…
b. In the words of Paul
As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;– Rom. 3:10, 21-22a.
Though you can’t obtain on your own the righteous standard Christ set, you can receive His righteousness if you are one of those who believe. Isn’t that great? God set the holy standard. And when you acknowledge that you can’t live up to it, He says, “My Son is not only the Lawgiver, but He is the Redeemer as well, who makes it possible for you to live on that level.” Beloved, it’s a fantastic thing! The standard is so high we can’t obtain it. But Christ met that standard and imputes to us His righteousness. Oh, what a blessed thing!
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Fruitful Living
Protecting the Muslim home in the modern age • Communication, addiction, temptation, marital fidelity (Part 2)
“So fear Allah concerning women. Indeed, you have taken them as a trust from Allah, and their private parts have become lawful to you by the word of Allah.
You have rights over them: that they should not allow anyone whom you dislike to enter your beds. If they do that, then admonish them and discipline them without causing harm. And they have rights over you: their provision and clothing according to what is reasonable.”
Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-Ḥajj, ḥadīth 1218, in the lengthy narration of Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh describing the Prophet’s Farewell Pilgrimage.
The modern Muslim home
The Muslim family today is living in a very different environment from previous generations.
Our grandparents had problems.
Our parents had problems.
We also have problems.
But today we have something they did not have. For instance:
Technology that can enter the home without opening the door
A person can sit beside his or her spouse and simultaneously communicate with hundreds of people around the world.
A person can be physically present at home but emotionally somewhere else.
A husband can be sitting next to his wife while emotionally attached to someone on his phone.
A wife can be sitting beside her husband while comparing her marriage with carefully edited marriages she sees on social media.
A young person can access sexual material within seconds.
A married person can secretly communicate with an old romantic partner without anyone knowing.
A person can lose money through betting without physically entering a betting shop.
This means that modern marriage requires something our predecessors also needed, but which we must now consciously develop: STRONGER PERSONAL BOUNDARIES.
The “third party” in modern marriage
Traditionally, when people talked about threats to marriage, they talked about another person.
Today, the third party may be:
• A smartphone
• Social media
• Pornography
• Betting
• Online friendships
• Private messaging
• Gaming
• An old romantic partner
• An emotional attachment
• Work
• Endless entertainment
We should therefore ask ourselves:
Who or what receives the best of my attention?
Is it my spouse?
My children?
My parents?
Allah?
Or my phone?
Sometimes the marriage does not collapse because there is no love.
Sometimes it begins to collapse because attention has been diverted elsewhere.
Communication: The lifeline of marriage
One of the most common causes of marital distress is communication breakdown.
Communication is not simply talking.
There is a difference between:
Speaking and communicating.
Hearing and listening.
Responding and understanding.
A husband may say: “I told you what I wanted.”
The author is the Chief Imam of Katamanso Municipal and Certified Counsellor and Governor Expert.
6. Gossip
In some countries there is an unspoken rule that you can say whatever you want about someone as long as you follow it with, “Bless his/her heart!” I am as guilty of this as anyone. We like to talk about other people’s lives as if we live in their heads and know everything about them. This is something “churchy” people are constantly accused of, and is often the result of a judgemental attitude (covered below). Why won’t the woman who had an abortion come to your church? Because she’s afraid of the looks you’ll give her and the distance at which you will keep her. The same could be said for the pregnant 16-year-old or the man who cheated on his wife. Sure, it’s nice to escape our own issues by talking about someone else’s for a while, but let’s try to remember to speak with grace and that our sin is just as sinful as anyone else’s. – Galatians 6:1 – 5
7. Hatred
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us what we already know – that murder is wrong – but he follows that up by saying that anyone who has harbored hatred towards someone has committed murder in his heart. Hatred is connected intimately with fear. We fear people we don’t understand and that fear causes us to hate them irrationally. The general attitude towards all Muslims based on the acts of a small sect is a perfect example of this. We also tend to harbor hatred against those who have hurt us. We constantly need to be searching our heart and monitoring our thoughts and feelings.
8. Judgement
This one is the kicker. This is what will be the death of our faith and our influence. I know that Paul tells the churches to expel sinners from their midst. He encourages us not to indulge someone in sinful behavior. We use those verses to justify judgement of others and I believe this is a gross misinterpretation of scripture. Yes, we are to hold each other accountable, but I would never deign to call out a stranger or even an acquaintance on some perceived sin. I will hold my husband accountable, as he does for me. I know he loves me, so when he gently rebukes an action of mine I know that he is only encouraging me to better myself, just as I do the same for him. That is what Paul is talking about when he says to hold fellow brothers and sisters accountable in love. He is not talking about condemning others. Every time a Christian judges someone based on skin color, sexual orientation, gender, socioeconomic status, promiscuity (the list goes on, you get the idea), then they are acknowledging the belief that they are better than that person. The truth of Jesus is in our equality. We are all sinners in need of a Savior. Christians have accepted Christ and avoided condemnation based on faith and the grace of God. We do not avoid condemnation based on our own actions. Every time we think less of someone else, we forget that we are also sinners. Paul himself claimed that he was the “worst of all sinners.” If Paul considers himself the worst sinner – a man who dedicated his life to spreading the gospel of Christ and who wrote most of the New Testament – how much more of a sinner am I? The only way to avoid this sin is to acknowledge our own weaknesses and to embrace humility. In fact, that could help us avoid a multitude of sins.
End Note
We are called to be one another’s keeper and to strengthen one another. We can only achieve this when we allow the Holy Spirit to be our Helper as Jesus tells us in John 16:7-11. The Holy Spirit is more than ready to help us because: Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him- Philippians 2:12-13 (NLT)
- This article was inspired by a devotional I found on the net.
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