“Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed,
for God made man in his own image.”
– Genesis 9:6

What a difference there is between the way we humans view the lives of fellow humans and how God views our lives! God considers all human life to be extraordinarily precious. Each person in this world – billions of them – is made in God’s own image. He forms us meticulously in the womb and we share (in a limited way) certain attributes of God that remind us of how deeply invested He is in our existence, blessing, and redemption. God treasures all human life – born and unborn, rich and poor, male and female, citizen and immigrant. God values people from every ethnic group, every language group, and every nationality.

By contrast, most of us view life quite cheaply. We’ve learned how to kill in vast numbers with ruthless efficiency through war. We’ve learned to numb ourselves to the horrors of famine, disaster, and disease even when those are preventable. We base much of our entertainment on the simulation of death on screens and in games. We find enjoyment, satisfaction, and meaning in insulting, degrading, oppressing, or mistreating other people bearing God’s image. We kill hundreds of thousands of unborn children for the sake of convenience and call it “choice”. All in all, we fall terribly short of God’s perspective on human life and that’s true even for those who claim the name of Jesus.
As we follow Jesus, we must learn to think like Him. We must learn to care about what He cares about even when we can’t do anything about it beyond weeping and praying. Jesus cares about other people, so we must as well. He cares about the poor and the vulnerable, so we must as well. He cares about the oppressed, the refugee, and those caught in the crossfire, so we must as well. We must deeply value ALL people – not just those we happen to like or that look like us, because Jesus deeply values ALL people.

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“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” – Genesis 4:7

This old, old story speaks to the ever-present danger of sin lurking within our hearts. As long as we live, the temptation to sin will infect our hearts, minds, and lives. Sin works hard to draw us in and separate us from God. It’s Satan’s primary tool to separate people from one another, fellow believers, and God. Even once we’ve embraced Christ, been set free from sin’s absolute authority, and are united with Christ by God’s grace given through faith, sin diverts us from worship, meaningful service, and transformational growth in Christ. Sin hinders our prayers and destroys our witness to non-believers.

God commands Cain to rule over the sin in his heart (he fails). Likewise, God commands us to rule over sin and gives us His Holy Spirit to help us do so. Unfortunately, we live in a culture that’s constantly encouraging us to do the opposite and be ruled by our sin. We’re told to embrace our nature, do what feels right, define ourselves by our sin, and celebrate whatever evil or depravity we happen to prefer. Our culture is increasingly defined by sin and its message can easily penetrate the hearts and minds of Christians.

Don’t let it! As a new year begins, fight the good fight to rule over sin in your life. Pray, learn to walk in the Spirit, and reject whatever sins tempt you. Recognize those sins for what they are – spiritual poison and an affront to the God Who loves you. Pursue the life of holiness modeled by Christ and commanded by God. Teach those in your sphere of influence how to conquer sin in Christ and why it’s so desperately important for everyone who professes to follow Jesus to battle constantly to rule over the sin that would disrupt their walk with Jesus.

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“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, you did it to me.’” – Matthew 25:34-40

As one year draws to an end and another is about to begin, there’s very little to add to these words of Jesus! Love the least and most vulnerable among us with the deep, sacrificial love with which Jesus loves you! Make practicing that love such a way of life that you have no idea you’re even doing something special. Then you too will be surprised to discover that you were ministering to Jesus the whole time…

“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’” – Matthew 25:23

Do you long to hear this from Jesus? You should! This is the beautiful praise that awaits every Christ follower who devotes his or her life to the service of our King and His Kingdom! Part of the famous “Parable of the Talents”, this same praise is given to both servants who were faithful, regardless of how much they’d originally been entrusted with. The beautiful thing about service to God’s Kingdom is that He isn’t interested in our raw numbers. He’s interested in our faithfulness! Did we freely give everything we had into His service? Did we pour out our lives for His glory? Then well done, good and faithful servant!!!

To hear this at the final judgment will be sheer, unimaginable, unmitigated bliss! Better still, if we hear this praise, it’s simply the beginning! Jesus makes clear in this parable that the reward for faithfulness on earth is the eternal enjoyment of God’s joy. “Enter into the joy of your master.” That’s a joy that will never end and one that will, in turn, yield unending joy and satisfaction for everyone who hears it.

Moreover, the reward for faithfulness on earth is greater responsibility in glory. Jesus seems to indicate that in the new earth, His people will have good, meaningful, holy, curse-free, sin-free work to do. We’ll enjoy work the way work was initially created to be in the Garden of Eden before sin turned work into a four-letter word. For those found faithful in this life, regardless of social status, education, wealth, or professional achievements, there will be wonderful responsibilities in service to the King we’ll see with our own eyes! You don’t want to miss all this, so trust in Christ and live to hear these words!

“For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” – Romans 8:6

Where’s your mind? If you’ve embraced Jesus as your Lord, then you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and your mind should be set on the Spirit rather than on the old ways of life in this fallen world. Christians should think radically differently from their non-Christian friends and neighbors. Our priorities should be different. Our pursuits should be different. Our passions should be different. Our responses to triumphs, tragedies, accomplishments, and setbacks should be different.

The Christian mind should be driven by the Holy Spirit, focused on the things of Christ, and thinking in the manner of Christ. Your mind shouldn’t still be driven by the desires of the world and the flesh: power, money, status, lust, pride, rage, vengeance, jealousy, envy, bitterness, etc. These things are the things of death!

Discipline your mind to contemplate, meditate, and delight in Christ, God, Scripture, spiritual matters, the advance of God’s Kingdom, the return of Jesus, and much more. Focus your mind on what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). These are the things of life! Focus your mind on life rather than death and peace rather than chaos and disorder.

As you walk in the Spirit, live in the Spirit, and set your mind on the Spirit you will increasingly experience the Fruit of the Spirit in your life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Desire these things urgently! Set your mind on the Spirit and live in peace, today and everyday, regardless of what’s going on in your life!