It Is Okay to Be the Only One
Good Morning,
When Jesus left Heaven, He left a perfect place to go to an imperfect place. Jesus walked through life as a perfect man, dwelling among imperfect men. He dealt fairly and honestly with all, while their dealings were far from proper or just.
As I read this passage, I considered these thoughts:
Philippians 2:6 “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:”
vs. 7 “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:”
vs. 8 “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
Although Christ deserved the very best, He made Himself of no reputation. He gained no earthly accolades; all the praise of men could not adequately glorify Him as He deserved.
My line of thought this morning centers on this reasoning: He did right while others did not do right; he loved, while others did not love; he forgave while others did not forgive, and he was kind and thoughtful while others were the extreme opposite. I consider these thoughts and remind myself that it is okay to be the only one in a relationship doing right.
We often do right until someone fails to realize our sacrifice, and then we do wrong. We will be clean and orderly until someone with whom we live ignores the cleanliness and allows their sloppy ways to be dominant, and then we become angry and yield to our own selfish ways. We each tend to love our spouse, as long as love is shown in return; if love is not reciprocated, the relationship is strained. Perhaps we react differently, but we tend to retaliate easily with unloving action if we do not receive a little back of what we give.
For the college student, it is okay to be the only one in the dorm reading his Bible daily, or keeping the rules faithfully, or honoring the spirit of the school appropriately.
It is okay to be the one in marriage who cleans up while others do not. If you have children, be sure to train them to do right in this matter; your spouse or other adult guests may not grasp the spirit of order, cleanliness, and usefulness. It is okay to keep doing right while others have no clue, for that is the Christlike life.
Philippians 2:8 “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
Christ humbled Himself; He tolerated the sinfulness of men and the shame of this godless world, and yet, He did right. Without a doubt, Jesus corrected the actions of those nearest Him: to Peter, one of his closest friends, He said, “Get thee behind me Satan.” Jesus also corrected the disciples when they feared the terrible storm:
Luke 8:25 “And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.”
When people watched to see if He would heal on the sabbath, Jesus chose a few words of correction: “with anger…”
Mark 3:5 ”And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.”
Many a missionary has given up because he felt there was no lasting fruit from his labors. Many a pastor or parent has turned to a casual lifestyle and stopped fighting for right when they saw no real change in those they attempted to help.
The most important thought is that we must not give up on doing right simply because we are alone in doing so. Right is right, whether we are in a crowd or alone. Godliness is the proper reaction even though we are alone in our behavior.
Some of our biggest failures come when we begin to think we are the only one who cares or the only one who is standing for right. If we entertain those thoughts, we must be reminded that God is in agreement with the right choice; we are not alone, and we are truly in the very best of company.
Pastor