Called to Be Different.....Part 3 - Final

For the past couple of posts, we have been exploring the principle that believers in the Lord Jesus are to be different than the world. (See Part 1 and Part 2) The Bible's definition of different is holy. Every follower of Christ is called to be holy.

• For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this not because we deserved it, but because that was His plan from before the beginning of time - to show us His grace through Jesus Christ. 2 Tim. 1:9 NLT

We also established that holy does not mean perfect - only Christ was capable of perfection when He walked this earth as a man. But we are to be imitators of Him. (Eph. 5:1)

Being holy begins in the mind by allowing the Holy Spirit to filter our thoughts and attitudes. Our goal should be to first think like Jesus....

• And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 NAS

Jesus's thought patterns were framed by the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Gal. 5:22-23) The ATTITUDES OF CHRIST!

Once those ATTITUDES take root in our hearts, the ACTIONS OF CHRIST will follow.

What do those ACTIONS look like? Well, we saw the ATTITUDES lived out through Jesus in ACTS of kindness, mercy, and compassion. However, sometimes it is easier to understand a concept by acknowlegding what it is NOT.

• It is obvious what kind of life develops [when not allowing the Spirit to conform you]:
  
  repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal and divided temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; and vicious habits of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. Gal. 5: 19-21 The Message
• Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these... Gal. 5:19-23 NAS
  
  

Both of those translations tell us plainly what followers of Christ should NOT act like. Reading over that list is like reading today's newspaper - it IS the world!

Now, let's be clear - to live without any of those actions - ever - is to live a perfect life. We can't achieve that, so there will be times when some of those actions will creep up on us. When they do, we need to recognize from whence they come and repent. But overall, none of those actions should be prevelant, or, in other words, a habit, in the life of a Christ follower.

Because....if we ARE walking with Jesus, our minds are being transformed - an on-going process

 until we are finally perfected in heaven.

The more our lives are transformed into the image of Christ, the more different our normal becomes. And that's okay! Our normal should be different from the world's normal in both ATTITUDES and ACTIONS.

• If you lived on the world's terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God's terms and no longer on the world's terms, the world is going
  to hate you.
  John 15:19 The Message

If you are a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, there is a call on your life - a call to holiness.

• As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior...1 Peter 1:14-15 NAS

As I think about being different from the world, I have to be honest and say that I don't always want

 to be different, and it's not always easy to be different. But I do have this promise from God's Word:

• ...I couldn't be more sure of my ground - the One I've trusted in, can take care of what He's trusted me to do right to the end. 2 Tim. 1:12 The Message

Are you hesitant to be different from the world around you, or are you willing to allow God's Spirit to live out His holiness through you?