Be Christ-Like
Philippians 1:20 “No matter what, I will continue to hope and passionately cling to Christ so that he will be openly revealed through me before everyone’s eyes. So I will not be ashamed! In my life or in my death, Christ will be magnified in me.”
I have really enjoyed reading through Philippians this week. There were so many good verses. I started at the end and worked my way forward. I am not sure why it worked out that way, but it did. I read this verse yesterday and it stuck with me so I wanted to share it with you today. This is something for which we can all aspire. We can all continue to have hope and passionately cling to Christ so that when others see us, they see Him.
Paul says, “In life or in my death, Christ will be magnified in me.” How great is that? How great would it be to know that you have helped to bring others to Christ, not only in life but in death, too? This makes me wonder, what am I doing to magnify Christ? When people look at me and how I live my life, do they see Christ?
I will always remember what Father Mike said on the podcast Catechism in a Year. He said, take a minute and imagine it is illegal to be Christian. Luckily, this is not the case in America, but pretend it is. He said to imagine now that you are on trial for being a Christian. Besides going to Mass or your church service on the weekend, would they have enough evidence to convict you? I don’t know why this has stuck with me over the past two years, but I think it is a compelling question.
Many of us go to church on Sunday. We love God, and we think that is all we really need to do. However, we are all called to be Christlike. We are called to be Jesus's face to all we meet. Jesus said we need to love the Lord our God with our whole heart, mind, and soul, and then He also said we need to love our neighbor as ourselves. I think this is the part that we often forget. I think we all remember to try to love God, although I am unsure if we try to do it with our whole heart, mind and soul. I think we try to love God when it benefits us. We all remember God when times are hard; I hope we remember Him when times are good, too.
We often forget to love our neighbors. This doesn’t just mean the person living next to us; it means every single person we interact with. If we had a private investigator following us for a week to look at our behavior and try to gather evidence that we were a Christian, would they find any evidence? Would they see you being compassionate to all those you interact with, whether you know them or not? Would they see you being patient and considerate when you are driving around? Would they see you being kind and helpful to the poor? Would they see you were a Christian when interacting with the various people you met throughout your day? How did you treat that one co-worker who always gets on your nerves? How did you treat that person that cut you off in traffic? How did you treat that person who cut you in line just as you finally reached the front? What about the homeless person who asked you for money?
How we treat others matters. We can’t simply focus on our relationship with God and disregard the rest of the world. We can’t claim to love God and then treat others unkindly. Our actions towards others reflect our faith and our commitment to living a Christlike life. When others look at our lives, they should be able to see Christ in all that we do. Jesus addresses this in the Gospels. God would not have ensured this was in the Bible if it didn’t say something we should pay attention to. The following verse shows us how important it is to care for everyone we meet.
Matthew 25:31-46 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[f] you did it to me. “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
This verse shows us that God requires more of us than just showing up at mass or service on Sunday mornings. It also shows us that we are called to be Christ-like and should view everyone we meet as Christ-like. Instead of seeing a random person you don’t know asking you for money on the street, see Jesus asking you for money on the street. Imagine how different our experiences would be if we pictured Jesus’s face on each person we saw throughout the day. Imagine someone stops you and asks you for help in the grocery store, and you see Jesus in that person. Wouldn’t that be such a gift? What if we tried to be that gift for others? What if we loved Jesus so much that His love and light spilled out from us onto all those we meet? Wouldn’t that be amazing? Isn’t that something worth striving for?
Dear Heavenly Father, please bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, please help us to be your face to the world. Help us to be Christ-like in all that we do. Help us to see you in others. Help us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Lord, show us what we need to do to be more Christ-like. Show each one of us where we are struggling with this. Show us where we could be doing better and how. We love you Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen.
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I want to read all of you the description of my upcoming retreat. The retreat is October 11-13th, the same weekend as last year. I will be opening registration soon, however it is not opened yet. I wanted to let you know the theme and the description so you can start praying about if you can attend.
Come As You Are Retreat (October 11-13, 2024)
Many of us feel we must be perfect before coming to the Lord. We feel as though we are not worthy enough to approach God. We looked at all we’ve done and know God can't possibly love us like this. We think we will go to church, pray, and sit before the Lord once we have changed, once we have cleaned ourselves up, and once things in our lives get a little better. We will come back to the Lord once we feel worthy.
This is not what God wants. He wants us to come to him just as we are right now. Matthew 11:28–30 says, "Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Come to me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis. Simply join your life with mine. Learn my ways, and you’ll discover that I’m gentle, humble, easy to please. You will find refreshment and rest in me. For all that I require of you will be pleasant and easy to bear.” (TPT)
This retreat is a safe place to come to the Lord, just as you are. You don't have to be far along on your spiritual journey. You don't have to have it all figured out. You don't have to have any of it figured out. This retreat is a judgment-free zone. All are welcome to come as we are and spend some time talking with our heavenly Father. It will be a time to discover God’s unconditional and unwavering love for you, yes you! It will be a time to finally let go of some of those lies the enemy has been holding over you and replace those lies with the truth of God. My prayer for you for this retreat:
You will experience the overwhelming love of God.
You will be liberated from the shackles of the lies you have believed for so long.
You will go home walking in the confidence of who God says you are.
Be more comfortable sitting and having a conversation with your heavenly Father. This is a unique opportunity to deepen your relationship with Him, to feel His presence more strongly in your life.
I hope you will consider joining me for this wonderful weekend away. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I. Have a blessed day!
Today’s Word from the Lord was received in February 2024 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “Pray for the salvation of souls. Now is the right time for the harvest. Pray for your estranged family members. I see some of you have given up hoping they will find their way. I put them as your family members because I trust in your faithfulness.”
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