Perspectives

Philippians 1:3-6… 3) I thank my God every time I remember you. 4) In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5) because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6) being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (NIV)

Time sure has a way of drawing our attention to things, a lot of things; it gets us to have a closer look at things and people. We sometimes think that material things bring peace and maybe even a little happiness into our lives. But we are fooled. While there nothing wrong with buying things, but we soon realize it is not things that are important, it is people like you and me, it is our families and friends; that is what brings happiness; it fills our lives with meaning and purpose.

Did you know that God created us in such a way that we actually desire to be in a relationship with other people? I am sure you do, I think our hearts reveal this truth to us every day. Why did I say that? Because I know you love your children, your grandchildren, your wife/husband, your girl/boyfriend and so on and so on. When those relationships are healthy and positive, it causes our hearts to bubble with pride and joy. God meant it to be that way. That is one of His ways of letting us know that He loves us, and that He wants that love to filter down to all the peoples we come into contact with; those relationships can be extremely fulfilling. On the other hand, when these relationships are unhealthy; life tends to become somewhat cloudy

What is the apostle Paul saying in our Scripture lesson? He is sharing how he feels about people who come along side other folks even when things are not going all that well. Kind of like an example for us to follow. He makes us feel important, like we are all part of God’s family, and being part of God’s family we want to make other people happy, and we want them to be happy when we are with them.

One more thing the apostle does, he prays. Have you ever noticed how different relationships become when we pray for other people? Prayer does make a difference. The Bible teaches that we are always to pray for all God’s people. But how often do I pray for others? Most of my praying is spent praying for my own needs. The challenge is to spend time praying for others. If I want relationships to grow, well then I must think of others. I should make it a practice to pray for them instead of criticizing them. I should pray for God’s blessing in their lives.

When I pray for the well-being of others I tend to forget about my own petty problems. Almost as an extra bonus, God replaces my feelings of envy, bitterness, and the like, with his limitless love. Those hurtful feelings only hurt the one who has them anyway. Far too often I am trapped by my bad feelings about the person that I should be praying for. Those feelings can become our undoing. God’s love for us helps to melt away our hurtful attitudes towards others, replacing them by a willingness to help when help is needed.

The Apostle Paul prayed that all Christians would choose the very best. Our goal as Christians is to do the will of God. It is not simply to do the good things in the name of God; it is to do the things God is calling us to do. That we safeguard our heart for God; that we love him and desire what He wants us to do. What is on the inside will become noticeable on the outside. Righteousness on the inside will show-up as right behaviour on the outside which glorifies God. Jesus said, “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise you Father in heaven”( Matthew 5:16).(NIV)

Would you pray this prayer with me … Lord Jesus, come into my heart. Forgive my sins. I want my life to change. My thoughts and my attitude need to change. I don’t have peace in my heart, I really want that peace, joy and happiness that I long for. Please let the Holy Spirit help me be the kind of Christian that will bring honour to Your Name. Amen