Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. – Philippians 1:27
… This verse says a lot!
Paul wrote this letter to the believers in Philippi while he was imprisoned. He started off explaining to them that even though he was locked up, the gospel was still being spread. He was rejoicing because he knew that God had it all figured out. He knew that whether he remained in prison or was set free… that whether he lived or died… Christ would be exalted. He believed that by the power of the Holy Spirit he would have the courage he needed to face his circumstances.
So as he goes on to exhort the believers, he wants them to understand that they have a job to do. And that it might not always be easy.
Whatever happens… Every day things happen. Some good. Some not so good. Some awful. But we have to remember that if we’ve decided to let Jesus be the Lord of our life – he’s Lord of all of it. And even if the things that are happening to us or around us seem completely out of whack – he is still in control. One of the easiest verses to memorize and to call to mind in every situation is Psalm 46:10 — “Be still and know that I am God.” I think if God had chosen to write the Bible in today’s vernacular he might have said it like this: “Chill out! I’ve got this!”
Conduct yourselves… Not a whole lot of explanation needed here. This is all about how we are behaving as we go about our busy life. Are we paying attention to how we are conducting ourselves?
In a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ… As believers that have been reconciled to God, we are Christ’s ambassadors. The Bible says that it is “as though God were making his appeal to the world through us.” (2 Corinthians 5:20) That’s something to think about! And with that in mind, we should be paying close attention to the things we say and the things we do. Are we behaving like someone that God is making his appeal to a lost world through? Are we acting like someone that has the amazing good news about Jesus the Savior? Does the fact that we’ve been saved by Jesus make us stand out? In a good way?
If you haven’t yet accepted Jesus as your personal Savior and you’re reading this and thinking — “I still have a lot of work to do. I need to clean myself up a little before I turn to Jesus.” — you’ve got it all backwards. The Bible says that “while we were yet sinners Christ died for us”. (Romans 5:8) You can’t clean yourself up. None of us can. That is the whole point of the gospel of Christ.
You’re lost. There’s no where to go from here. Jesus is the only one that can give you the answers that you can’t find anywhere else. Don’t wait until it’s too late. You can have the assurance of salvation and the peace that passes understanding right now. All you have to do is tell Jesus you need him! The emptiness in your heart that you could never quite figure out how to fill can only be filled by him. When God created you — he put that hole in your heart and has been waiting for you to fill it with his love and his grace and his forgiveness.
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. – Acts 2:21
Loved this!