When you rob yourself of the things others want to steal from you, things will go your way even if you don’t get your way.
Philippians 2:5 says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.”
Two young boys wanted a pony for Christmas. On Christmas morning they went downstairs and found only a bunch of hay and manure under the Christmas tree. The older boy cried “look at this mess, Christmas is ruined.”
The younger boy ran to the barn and came back with a shovel and started cleaning up the mess. He said, “with all this manure around, there must be a pony here someplace.” How is it that two people could have such different responses to the same thing?
Their thinking was different and because their thinking was different, they developed different attitudes that guided how they lived. The older boy thought about what he wanted but the younger boy thought about what he could find.
Jesus didn’t think it was robbery for Him to be stripped of His place beside God and to come to earth to live as a mere man. In a way, Jesus robbed Himself of His rightful place so that He could find some valuable things here on earth. He knew that with God in control, things would be ok even if they didn’t seem to go His way.
In much that way, the younger boy robbed himself of his disappointment. He knew that happiness and joy cannot live where disappointment dwells. So, he chose to think about what he could find more than about what he did not get. In a way he was saying to himself “things will be ok even if I don’t get my way.”
Unfortunately, many of us today are like the older boy. We focus on reacting to who is robbing us of the things that are ours. Perhaps we should consider it a blessing sometimes when we don’t get all the things we want. Having all that we desire would likely lead us to being selfish. Selfish people are not our favorite people.
So, we are encouraged today to let this mind that was in Christ be in each of us. And although we are encouraged to want the whole mind of Christ, the Word today is talking about a specific mind and way of thinking that Christ demonstrated toward His life. What mind is this you ask?
Well, it is the mind to know this is who I am, but I want to live the way God wants me to live. Jesus knew that people could not take from Him what was not theirs to take. People could not rob Him of what could not be stolen. People could not take from Him anything He treasured more than what He wanted to give them.
So, today why don’t you start a life of having this mind of Christ for yourself. Learn to rob yourself of the things that others would want to take from you. Rob yourself of the thinking that you have a rightful place anyplace but in the presence of the Lord.
Rob yourself of the thinking that you have a right to anything but the thing that God gives you. Rob yourself of the need to be accepted by anyone or anything save that God accepts you.
When you learn to let this mind to be in you as it is in Christ, you will develop an attitude of being like Christ. Your attitude is the way you react and respond to the things that happen with and around you daily. Your attitude will ultimately influence how you live and the behaviors you demonstrate and more importantly the way you are received in the world. Attitude is a choice. It is not set in stone. Rob yourself of the thinking that will keep you from having the mind of Christ, and the heart of Christ and the attitude of Christ.
Much of the good in life is found in how you think about what life is doing to you. You cannot have a pony without having some hay and some manure. If you react to the mess in your life in a way that is a mess, life will likely always be a mess for you.
Your life follows your thinking. Your life may be a mess not because of what is happening to you but because of the way you think about what is happening around you and the attitude by which you choose to respond to life.
Start robbing yourself of your way of thinking. With the Lord, things will be ok, even if you do not get your way. Let this too be your mind.
Live a Delivered Life. Love you.
Live Delivered 