Category: Imitation of Christ

inordinate affections, harmful desires attchments

Unhealthy Affections – Imitation Of Christ Chapter Six

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Imitation of Christ  Chapter Six – Unhealthy Affections When someone has exorbitant love for something other than God or people it makes them restless. Excessive affections makes someone weak when temptation comes. This carnal person has not died to self and their destructive attachments. Their spirit is weak and they keep looking for worldly pleasure. When they deprive themself of the objects of their affections they become sad and irritable. And when they give in to their unhealthy affections they feel guilty. They also realize they aren’t truly satisfied and didn’t find peace. These attachments or affections keep one from becoming like Christ. Many believers don’t grow because they have so much love for things or their self. Some of these are fine in moderation but their heart is so attached it prevents them from fully loving God. They wonder why they don’t feel closer to God but they ignore Continue Reading →

Spiritual learning, thinking

Spiritual Learning – Imitation Of Christ Chapter Five

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Spiritual Learning – Imitation Of Christ Chapter Five When we read scripture we should focus on the purpose of the passage, not on ideas for irrelevant debates. We should look for truth and edification. Pointless curiosity often blocks us from gaining from scripture. We stop and ruminate over something that doesn’t really matter instead of moving on to something that does matter. We should read books that are simple and godly as well as some that are deep and challenging. God speaks through many kinds of people; it shouldn’t matter if an author is educated or uneducated. We shouldn’t gravitate to an author’s reputation but rather to the truth that they write. We shouldn’t gravitate to an author’s reputation but rather to the truth that they write. Don’t read to build a reputation for yourself, rather read with humility. And when you find someone who is mature ask them many Continue Reading →

wisdom

On Becoming Wise – Imitation Of Christ Chapter Four

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Today’s post is an interpretation of the fourth chapter of the most popular devotional book in the history of Christianity, The Imitation of Christ. It was written by a monk (or possibly several monks) in the 15th century named Thomas a Kempis. You can view all the posts in this series by selecting “Imitation of Christ” in the categories listing. On Becoming Wise – Imitation of Christ – Chapter Four Find a counselor who is a better Christian than you. See that they are wise and full of integrity. Don’t just depend on your own wisdom for living your Christian life. You will deceive yourself by being too harsh and too lenient. You will overlook important truth and overemphasize less important truth. Many Christians stumble because they did not humble themselves and find a godly counselor. “If you’re not humble, you will stumble.” It is great wisdom to avoid hasty or Continue Reading →

truth

Living With The Living Truth – Imitation Of Christ Chapter Three

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Today’s post is an interpretation of the third chapter of the most popular devotional book in the history of Christianity, The Imitation of Christ. It was written by a monk (or possibly several monks) in the 15th century named Thomas a Kempis.You can view the first post in this series here. Chapter Three – Living With The Living Truth What good is it to spend time debating things that haven’t been revealed by God and don’t affect God’s judgment of our lives? How foolish it is to give in to idle curiosity, and neglect what is essential and edifying in scripture. When the Word of God speaks to us we don’t need to ask endless questions. As we come to see that all truth is one in Him this gives us strength and peace. All truth comes from the Living Word and all truth speaks of him. “God, you are the truth, make Continue Reading →

humility, shame

Love Humility – The Imitation of Christ: Chapter Two

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Imitation of Christ – Chapter Two It is natural to want knowledge but what good is knowledge if we aren’t surrendered to God? Someone who humbly serves God but lacks any education is higher in God’s eyes than a world-renowned scientist who doesn’t know that their own heart needs God. When we know our own heart we know how lowly we are. We don’t let complements puff us up. If we have all the knowledge in the world but don’t truly love others then is God impressed by our knowledge? He will judge our lives by our deeds not by our knowledge. Restrain your hunger for excessive knowledge because that only distracts and misleads us. Learned people are tempted to keep up an appearance of wisdom and hope they are recognized for it. Yet great knowledge is actually not much help to the soul. Dedicating our mind to knowledge outside Continue Reading →