Got An Attitude of Gratitude

Good Morning!

Attitude makes a difference. We had the following verse of Scripture in our Sunday morning Bible study this week:

1 Peter 4:1 (New International Version, ©2011)
Living for God
1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.

Now when I see the word “therefore”, I usually go back to the preceding statement to try to figure out why the author is using the word “therefore”. It doesn’t really fit on this occasion. So I have to question what the “therefore” applies to in this instance. And I think this “therefore” is the beginning of the end of the general letter Peter is writing to the church. Peter has just finished talking about relationships … how the Christian is supposed to behave himself / herself in relating to Christ; himself or herself; the people who are in authority; spouses; and people who are opposed to Christ. So what is the “same attitude” Peter is talking about? I believe Peter is talking about Christ’s attitude.

So what does Peter mean: “since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude …”? Is Peter talking about the crucifixion? Or is Peter talking about Christ’s suffering as a human? You see, Jesus was 100% God from the foundation of existence. He remained 100% God while in human form … but He was also 100% human. Please don’t ask me to explain the math … I cannot. But then I cannot explain a lot of things that only God knows.

As a human, Jesus got hot. He also got cold. He was hungry and thirsty. He got tired after a full day. He laughed. He cried. I am sure there were days His feet hurt. And I am sure there were days He was discouraged. As a human, Jesus suffered the same way you and I suffer. The difference was His servant attitude. Jesus knew He had a purpose that God had ordained for Him. And when human suffering enveloped Him, Jesus looked to His father to remind Himself of the glory that lay ahead.

So what then is the “same attitude” Peter encourages us to adopt? I believe our attitude should be one that rejoices because we are done with the sin that separates us from God. Now, please don’t misunderstand – I am not saying we no longer commit sins. I am speaking of the curse of the Sin nature. Jesus died to cover that Sin so that we might have Life in Him.

Our earthly existence is going to be filled with bumps and bruises. In short, we are going to suffer in this life. But let us adopt the attitude that Christ has – focusing


Agape’


Mr. Jim