PRICE FOR A STANDARD CHRISTIAN LIVING
2 Timothy 4:14-18, 2 Timothy 3:10-14
14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works: 15 Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words. 16 At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. 17 Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. 18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
2 Timothy 3:10-14
10 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, 11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. 12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. 14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
Each and everyone named Christian is relied upon to be a standard for everyone around to imitate. Emerging for God as a standard has a sticker price joined to it. The cost of being God's standard is included predominantly of hostility, depression and mistreatment. In John 16:2, our Lord Jesus Christ arranged our brains for what we ought to expect on the off chance that we would be His standard in this world, saying: “They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.” We live in times when these words are being satisfied just directly in front of us.
To live as God's standard in this world, you must be prepared to stroll on the cool street of dejection here and there. God's standards we commend today, for example, Elijah and Apostle Paul, all confronted this reality (1 Kings 19:14, 2 Timothy 4:16). When you pick not to take after a huge number to sin, they will stand up to and offend you since you are unique. When they find that they can't prevail upon you to their side, they will sideline and segregate you. You should will to pay this cost to stay away from the tainting of the world. Continuously have at the back of your mind that the Christian race you are called to is an individual race that can be forlorn. In any case, be guaranteed that the Lord will be with you generally, thus you are never alone. He remained by Paul in his snapshots of depression and He additionally fortified Elijah in his season of gloom (2 Timothy 4:17, Acts 27:23-25). You can make certain that what He improved the situation them, He will improve the situation you too.
To live as God's standard in this age, you should set up your psyche for it. The mystery of not fitting in with the standards of this world lies in the persistent recharging of your psyche with the word of God. The Holy Spirit uncovered this to us in Romans 12:2, where He stated: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
The reason is that what is in your brain figures out what you would move toward becoming and the idea of life you would live in this world. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego emerged for God and they moved toward becoming standards and reference point in the Babylonian and Medo-Persian domains. In spite of the fact that they endured an awesome arrangement, their sufferings yielded uncommon advancements (Daniel 3:30, Daniel 6:26-28). Any individual who needs to be a standard of piety must be prepared to experience the ill effects of the adversaries of the cross. Fortunately Jesus Christ guaranteed He is with us till the apocalypse (Matthew 28:20b).
PRAY LIKE THIS: Father, it would be ideal if you give me grace to stand firm as Your standard in this warped generation.
If we are consecrated to God, we will always be different from others, our thoughts and actions will be different from others because we are light in the midst of darkness, and because we do not participate in the pagan things of this world. We must remain incorruptible at all times and the price we must pay at times is the rejection and contempt of others ... But the acceptance and company of our Lord is better than the acceptance and company of the world.