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CHAPTER 10
CHOSEN TO BE DIFFERENT!
In the Word of God, we Christians are very privileged to be called the chosen of God, the
elect, the Bride of Christ, joint heirs with Christ and the children of God! All of these terms
are in the Bible and are references to His people. Who do children imitate? Their parents.
Who are we to imitate? Our Father. This leaves us with an awesome responsibility along
with this privilege of being His child.
The Bible says that “we are a peculiar people.” It also says that we are sojourners
(pilgrims) in a foreign land (this earth). This world is not our home. If an alien came to
earth, wouldn’t he be different? He may even look like us, but underneath he would still be
different, and so it is with us. We have been born-again by the Holy Spirit of God who now
lives inside of us. We have two natures living inside of us, instead of one. The “flesh” and
the “Spirit” both dwell in our temple. It is our job to be overcomers (as Revelations often
says) and be yielded to the Holy Spirit, so that He can make us more and more like Jesus.
Being more like Jesus is achieved as we yield our fleshly nature to His wonderful divine
nature. We must be conscious of this fact and constantly yielding and yielding and yielding
to Him in the midst.
Realizing that we ARE different, what are we to do with that difference? The Word of God
is full of directives that are different from the world. We must look and see things differently;
having the mind of Christ with renewed minds through the power of the Holy Spirit.
One certain section of Scripture (Matt 5:39-47) challenges us emphatically to be different.
We cannot do the things that are asked of us in this portion of Scripture without being
different. These are directed to Christians. Each one of these Scriptures hits us where it
hurts! All of these Scriptures deal with being unfairly treated or taken advantage of. Our
selfish desire is to get even. But, if this portion of Scripture is followed, it will create a real
humility in us and not just a pretentious surface humility. We may not always see the payoff
right away, but true blessing will come as we obey these Scriptures, and we WILL be
changed! Isn’t change what we truly want?
We have been given the power to overcome by the Holy Spirit. His working in and through
us is the only way we can overcome. We no longer are the same person we were before
we were saved. We have been touched by the supernatural, one and only LIVING GOD
Himself.
Let’s look at Matt 5:38-39 which says, “You have heard that it was said, AN EYE FOR AN
EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH. But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but
whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.”
Here we deal with vengeance, retaliation, getting even with someone or keeping score. One
way we oftentimes get even with someone is with our TONGUE! Oh the pain we can cause
with our words that cut and wound one another. We lash out with our tongues because we
have been hurt. We must bite the bullet and turn the other cheek. Let them slap you again if
they so desire. “Vengeance is Mine saith the Lord, I will repay.” Here, once again, we must
TRUST God to settle the score, fairly and in His time and in His way.
In verse 40, “If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.” If
someone wants to take you to court, you have the right to defend yourself and seek legal
aid, but if you lose, you must pay them what is required by the judge. We must
remembering that God is looking for our attitude! How will we respond when we lose?
In verse 41, “Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two” explains the unfair
treatment of the Romans towards the Jews. God is saying that if we are unfairly ordered to
do something by someone over us, we must go the extra mile and see if they want us to do
even more. WOW! Tough words!
Verse 42 says, “Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to
borrow from you.” This verse is truly one that hits us when someone asks for something or
wants to borrow something and you know they may not take care of it. They may even
damage it or may not even return it. It is easy if you know they will take care of it, return it
in tact or pay you back as agreed, but Jesus isn’t speaking about that.
He is telling us to lend to those who take advantage. For example, a neighbor asks to
borrow a cup of sugar and you willingly give it to her. The next day she is at the door again
and wants to borrow two eggs. You’re a little less enthusiastic about giving them to her, but
you do. The third day she wants four cups of flour. By now you are getting agitated, and on
the fifth day you are angry when she arrives at the door to borrow a fifth item. “She is taking
advantage of me” you say to yourself. “This is not how a neighbor should act, and besides
she has never even returned the sugar, the eggs or the flour.” But remember life is a test
right? It’s all about our developing the characteristics that will make us more like Jesus (with
the fruit of the Spirit as listed in Galatians).
God is watching our responses to see how we will handle the situations in life that He brings
our way to test us. He doesn’t care about the sugar, the eggs or the flour. He cares about
our hearts and how we respond! He is telling us to lend to those who take advantage of us.
Why? Because when we do, the selfishness in us begins to leave. The possessiveness that
is inside of us begins to break, until we begin to realize that those things are not so important
after all. This is painful to our flesh, and our flesh dies hard. You can literally “feel” the pain
inside when you yield to the Holy Spirit against your will. Each time we yield it gets easier
and finally we find that we are pretty much dead to “self” in that area. A victory has been
brought about in our life! I must add however, that perhaps there is an exception to lending,
and that would be if someone wanted to borrow something that they might get hurt on. Then
we would have to say no.
Verse 43-44 says, “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…” Here we have another hard Scripture for us to incorporate into our
lives. Why must we do this? Because this is what Jesus did. He showed His love to a lost
and dying world that needed His mercy and grace to be extended to them. He forgave His
enemies and not only prayed for them but he also died for them, so that they could receive
forgiveness for their sins. When He was persecuted, He opened not His mouth. He did not
accuse His accusers, and He wants us to become like He is, possessing the same
characteristics and attitudes towards people that He has.
Once I had a temp job as a secretary and one of the men that I worked for was very very
difficult. It seemed like he just didn’t like me for no reason at all. I had tried to do a good
job for him and was very sweet and kind to him, but still every time he came into my office
he would snarl and be rude and showed his dislike for me by his attitude. I felt very bad and
prayed on the way home from work one evening about the man. I remembered this
Scripture above and so I decided to pray for the man. I started praying for him right then,
asking God to bless his life, and so forth. I went to work the next day and low and behold,
the man had completely changed! I couldn’t believe it! What happened to this man? Is this
the same person that I just told you about? Yes, but he no longer acted the same way
towards me, and from that day forward he was nice, spoke gently, and was never rude or
mean spirited again. God was trying to show me that obedience to His Word really does
work! I couldn’t believe that God had answered so quickly! I think it was just God’s grace
towards me in this situation because it happened overnight. God does honor our obedience
to His Word.
Here is another example of obeying God’s Word towards our enemies. My first husband,
Michael, contracted a cancerous brain tumor which infiltrated his brain. Because of the
cancer, he could no longer work. We had to go on Social Security Disability. We had to sell
our home and move into an apartment. Michael was only 27 years old, I was 23 and we had
a 5 year old son, Steven (who has now also passed away in 2004), which necessitated I quit
work to take care of them both. We had some very insensitive neighbors living next door in
our apartment complex who had a teenage son. Michael would go for a walk around the
apartment complex as his only form of recreation (as he could not drive, work or take
responsibility for any task). He would take his walk and the teenage boy next door would
taunt him and make fun of him as he took his walks. I didn’t know what to do. I felt so bad
for my husband. Then I read in the Word that we should give our enemies a gift. I know
that sounds funny, but why not try it? So I went out and bought a nice man’s leather wallet
for the young teenager. I wrapped it all up like a present and took it over to him. The young
teen came to the door and I gave him the gift. I said “here, this is for you.” I didn’t scold him
or explain my husband’s condition to him. He looked very perplexed but thanked me and I
went home. From that day forward he did not taunt my dear husband any more. I was so
thankful for the Word. God is so wise and wonderful! Can you imagine giving a gift to your
enemy? But it worked! God has all the answers in His Word for us if we will take the time
to seek out those answers and pray that He will give us His direction and solution to our
problems in life as they come up.
Verse 45 says, “so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His
sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
Here we are told that we are the children of our FATHER and ought to act as such. 46-47
says that we must not just TRADE love for love, friendship for friendship, be nice to only
those we like, treat with favor the lovely and ignore the unlovely. We must be nice to those
who aren’t nice as well. WE MUST BE DIFFERENT!
And praise the Lord; we have been given the POWER to BE different! It comes by the Holy
Spirit. “But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God”
(John 1:12). “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you” (Acts
1:8). “As his divine power hath given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness…” (Eph
3:20).
We have been given the power; power to respond correctly as the children of God. It is for
us to DRAW upon. When we are tested, these situations come along to give us a chance to
be different. With that in mind, let us lay hold of all that is in us through the Holy Spirit.
Remembering that, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:10).
The world is waiting, longing, dying to see people who are different! They are looking for
people who really walk in righteousness. They are looking for people that they can model
their lives after and emulate. Where are they? “People must all be the same they think to
themselves.” But, WE are the answer to the world. Jesus left us here so that HE could be
seen through us. WE are the light of the world and we must let our light so shine before men
that they may see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven.
Let us give ourselves to Him so that HE can be seen through us. Let us take up the lifestyle
that comes by obedience to the Word of God, denying ourselves, taking up our cross daily
and following Him. We want the world to see JESUS, and He left us here to make the
difference.
CHOSEN TO BE DIFFERENT!
In the Word of God, we Christians are very privileged to be called the chosen of God, the
elect, the Bride of Christ, joint heirs with Christ and the children of God! All of these terms
are in the Bible and are references to His people. Who do children imitate? Their parents.
Who are we to imitate? Our Father. This leaves us with an awesome responsibility along
with this privilege of being His child.
The Bible says that “we are a peculiar people.” It also says that we are sojourners
(pilgrims) in a foreign land (this earth). This world is not our home. If an alien came to
earth, wouldn’t he be different? He may even look like us, but underneath he would still be
different, and so it is with us. We have been born-again by the Holy Spirit of God who now
lives inside of us. We have two natures living inside of us, instead of one. The “flesh” and
the “Spirit” both dwell in our temple. It is our job to be overcomers (as Revelations often
says) and be yielded to the Holy Spirit, so that He can make us more and more like Jesus.
Being more like Jesus is achieved as we yield our fleshly nature to His wonderful divine
nature. We must be conscious of this fact and constantly yielding and yielding and yielding
to Him in the midst.
Realizing that we ARE different, what are we to do with that difference? The Word of God
is full of directives that are different from the world. We must look and see things differently;
having the mind of Christ with renewed minds through the power of the Holy Spirit.
One certain section of Scripture (Matt 5:39-47) challenges us emphatically to be different.
We cannot do the things that are asked of us in this portion of Scripture without being
different. These are directed to Christians. Each one of these Scriptures hits us where it
hurts! All of these Scriptures deal with being unfairly treated or taken advantage of. Our
selfish desire is to get even. But, if this portion of Scripture is followed, it will create a real
humility in us and not just a pretentious surface humility. We may not always see the payoff
right away, but true blessing will come as we obey these Scriptures, and we WILL be
changed! Isn’t change what we truly want?
We have been given the power to overcome by the Holy Spirit. His working in and through
us is the only way we can overcome. We no longer are the same person we were before
we were saved. We have been touched by the supernatural, one and only LIVING GOD
Himself.
Let’s look at Matt 5:38-39 which says, “You have heard that it was said, AN EYE FOR AN
EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH. But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but
whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.”
Here we deal with vengeance, retaliation, getting even with someone or keeping score. One
way we oftentimes get even with someone is with our TONGUE! Oh the pain we can cause
with our words that cut and wound one another. We lash out with our tongues because we
have been hurt. We must bite the bullet and turn the other cheek. Let them slap you again if
they so desire. “Vengeance is Mine saith the Lord, I will repay.” Here, once again, we must
TRUST God to settle the score, fairly and in His time and in His way.
In verse 40, “If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.” If
someone wants to take you to court, you have the right to defend yourself and seek legal
aid, but if you lose, you must pay them what is required by the judge. We must
remembering that God is looking for our attitude! How will we respond when we lose?
In verse 41, “Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two” explains the unfair
treatment of the Romans towards the Jews. God is saying that if we are unfairly ordered to
do something by someone over us, we must go the extra mile and see if they want us to do
even more. WOW! Tough words!
Verse 42 says, “Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to
borrow from you.” This verse is truly one that hits us when someone asks for something or
wants to borrow something and you know they may not take care of it. They may even
damage it or may not even return it. It is easy if you know they will take care of it, return it
in tact or pay you back as agreed, but Jesus isn’t speaking about that.
He is telling us to lend to those who take advantage. For example, a neighbor asks to
borrow a cup of sugar and you willingly give it to her. The next day she is at the door again
and wants to borrow two eggs. You’re a little less enthusiastic about giving them to her, but
you do. The third day she wants four cups of flour. By now you are getting agitated, and on
the fifth day you are angry when she arrives at the door to borrow a fifth item. “She is taking
advantage of me” you say to yourself. “This is not how a neighbor should act, and besides
she has never even returned the sugar, the eggs or the flour.” But remember life is a test
right? It’s all about our developing the characteristics that will make us more like Jesus (with
the fruit of the Spirit as listed in Galatians).
God is watching our responses to see how we will handle the situations in life that He brings
our way to test us. He doesn’t care about the sugar, the eggs or the flour. He cares about
our hearts and how we respond! He is telling us to lend to those who take advantage of us.
Why? Because when we do, the selfishness in us begins to leave. The possessiveness that
is inside of us begins to break, until we begin to realize that those things are not so important
after all. This is painful to our flesh, and our flesh dies hard. You can literally “feel” the pain
inside when you yield to the Holy Spirit against your will. Each time we yield it gets easier
and finally we find that we are pretty much dead to “self” in that area. A victory has been
brought about in our life! I must add however, that perhaps there is an exception to lending,
and that would be if someone wanted to borrow something that they might get hurt on. Then
we would have to say no.
Verse 43-44 says, “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…” Here we have another hard Scripture for us to incorporate into our
lives. Why must we do this? Because this is what Jesus did. He showed His love to a lost
and dying world that needed His mercy and grace to be extended to them. He forgave His
enemies and not only prayed for them but he also died for them, so that they could receive
forgiveness for their sins. When He was persecuted, He opened not His mouth. He did not
accuse His accusers, and He wants us to become like He is, possessing the same
characteristics and attitudes towards people that He has.
Once I had a temp job as a secretary and one of the men that I worked for was very very
difficult. It seemed like he just didn’t like me for no reason at all. I had tried to do a good
job for him and was very sweet and kind to him, but still every time he came into my office
he would snarl and be rude and showed his dislike for me by his attitude. I felt very bad and
prayed on the way home from work one evening about the man. I remembered this
Scripture above and so I decided to pray for the man. I started praying for him right then,
asking God to bless his life, and so forth. I went to work the next day and low and behold,
the man had completely changed! I couldn’t believe it! What happened to this man? Is this
the same person that I just told you about? Yes, but he no longer acted the same way
towards me, and from that day forward he was nice, spoke gently, and was never rude or
mean spirited again. God was trying to show me that obedience to His Word really does
work! I couldn’t believe that God had answered so quickly! I think it was just God’s grace
towards me in this situation because it happened overnight. God does honor our obedience
to His Word.
Here is another example of obeying God’s Word towards our enemies. My first husband,
Michael, contracted a cancerous brain tumor which infiltrated his brain. Because of the
cancer, he could no longer work. We had to go on Social Security Disability. We had to sell
our home and move into an apartment. Michael was only 27 years old, I was 23 and we had
a 5 year old son, Steven (who has now also passed away in 2004), which necessitated I quit
work to take care of them both. We had some very insensitive neighbors living next door in
our apartment complex who had a teenage son. Michael would go for a walk around the
apartment complex as his only form of recreation (as he could not drive, work or take
responsibility for any task). He would take his walk and the teenage boy next door would
taunt him and make fun of him as he took his walks. I didn’t know what to do. I felt so bad
for my husband. Then I read in the Word that we should give our enemies a gift. I know
that sounds funny, but why not try it? So I went out and bought a nice man’s leather wallet
for the young teenager. I wrapped it all up like a present and took it over to him. The young
teen came to the door and I gave him the gift. I said “here, this is for you.” I didn’t scold him
or explain my husband’s condition to him. He looked very perplexed but thanked me and I
went home. From that day forward he did not taunt my dear husband any more. I was so
thankful for the Word. God is so wise and wonderful! Can you imagine giving a gift to your
enemy? But it worked! God has all the answers in His Word for us if we will take the time
to seek out those answers and pray that He will give us His direction and solution to our
problems in life as they come up.
Verse 45 says, “so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His
sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
Here we are told that we are the children of our FATHER and ought to act as such. 46-47
says that we must not just TRADE love for love, friendship for friendship, be nice to only
those we like, treat with favor the lovely and ignore the unlovely. We must be nice to those
who aren’t nice as well. WE MUST BE DIFFERENT!
And praise the Lord; we have been given the POWER to BE different! It comes by the Holy
Spirit. “But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God”
(John 1:12). “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you” (Acts
1:8). “As his divine power hath given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness…” (Eph
3:20).
We have been given the power; power to respond correctly as the children of God. It is for
us to DRAW upon. When we are tested, these situations come along to give us a chance to
be different. With that in mind, let us lay hold of all that is in us through the Holy Spirit.
Remembering that, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:10).
The world is waiting, longing, dying to see people who are different! They are looking for
people who really walk in righteousness. They are looking for people that they can model
their lives after and emulate. Where are they? “People must all be the same they think to
themselves.” But, WE are the answer to the world. Jesus left us here so that HE could be
seen through us. WE are the light of the world and we must let our light so shine before men
that they may see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven.
Let us give ourselves to Him so that HE can be seen through us. Let us take up the lifestyle
that comes by obedience to the Word of God, denying ourselves, taking up our cross daily
and following Him. We want the world to see JESUS, and He left us here to make the
difference.
| Women for the Lord www.WomenfortheLord.com "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." Proverbs 31:10 |
