Philippians 2 says:
2 "Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind."
5-8 "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
14-18 "Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all. For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me."
The older I get the more I see people who once had the joy of their salvation develop bad attitudes. I know that age can have an affect on you physically, mentally, and emotionally, but age is no excuse for allowing the enemy to steal your happiness and replace it with sourness. I have been on the firing line to long to allow myself to develop a bad attitude. I've got to keep on going even though I feel like sometimes packing it in and walking away. The hardest thing in the world to do is to keep smiling when everything within you says why not be like the rest of them. That's when the joy of the Lord has to kick in or we give up.
Paul says three important things to the church at Philippi that we need to take note of even today:
(1) When there is unity in the body ( I'm talking about you personally-not the church) you can be fulfilled with joy.
Many times the body wants to rebel against the mind or the spirit. Or maybe even the opposite- your spirit or mind wants to rebel against your body. When there is internal conflict going on it's hard to be vigilant against the enemy and like a roaring lion he sweeps in to devour what he can. The devil can turn your attitude negative in just a moment if something within you gets out of sync.
Keeping yourself together internally unifies the body, mind, and spirit against a bad attitude coming into a divided house.
(2) Let your mind be as Christ's.
That's easier said than done. I know we are spiritual, sanctified beings through Christ, but we are also HUMAN. It is the natural man that rebels when attacks come against our body, mind, or spirit. The human side wants revenge, wants to pout, wants to retaliate, wants to attack, wants to get angry, and wants to give up. But we must remember that Jesus kept on the firing line. He never gave up, quit, or gave in. He finished His race by fulfilling His purpose. His attitude was subject to His father's will and He never deviated from it's course. When our mind is like His, we will be determined that nothing can separate us from the love of God, not even we ourselves by developing a bad attitude.
(3) Become a blameless and harmless nation.
Does that mean we don't have any individual or collective power? Absolutely not! It simply means that we keep ourselves holy and pure in His sight with our minds made up that He will help us to live and die as an example for Him and keep a sweet spirit regardless of what comes our way. I'm not a pansy and I will fight for I believe is right, but I will not allow my attitude to overcome the good that is in me through Christ Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, it's not easy to keep on the firing line. Many times you feel you are the target. But hang in there, if God be for you who can be against you?
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