00:02imitate Jesus Embrace suffering
00:06first Peter 2 verses 21 to 25 for God
00:10called you to do good
00:12even if it means suffering
00:14just as Christ suffered for us
00:19and you must follow in his steps he
00:23nor ever deceived anyone he did not
00:26retaliate when he was insulted nor
00:29threatened Revenge when he suffered he
00:32left his case in the hands of God who
00:34always judges fairly
00:36he personally carried our sins in his
00:39body on the cross so that we can be dead
00:41to sin and live for what is right by his
00:44wounds you are healed once you were like
00:47sheep who wandered away but now you have
00:50turned to your Shepherd
00:51the guardian of your souls
00:55we're called to be imitators of Jesus
00:58not only when the good times but in the
01:02not only the hard times but in the
01:04hardest of times when everything is
01:07going wrong when perhaps we're being
01:09treated unjustly perhaps even in times
01:14we need to learn to Suffer Well
01:19that's what Jesus did
01:21it's easy to imitate when everything is
01:26it's challenging to do well when things
01:31are hard and that's what that's when you
01:34really see is Jesus and his Spirit at
01:39you know when someone
01:44it's natural to want to react
01:49they're mean to you and you want to be
01:51mean back to them and get even
01:55but when the moment we do that the
01:57moment we react to someone
02:00we give them leadership
02:03in that relationship
02:05so imagine if someone punches you in the
02:08and you react by punching them in their
02:11what have you just done you've seated to
02:15the role are the ones who are
02:17determining the direction the
02:19relationship is going in you say you
02:21lead you're mean I'll be mean and you're
02:25what God calls us to do when we're as
02:30who went to the cross and was like a
02:33lamb before it's yours who did not open
02:35his mouth though he was being unjustly
02:38accused he did not accuse anyone
02:42If instead of reacting into moments of
02:45Injustice we learn to respond in the
02:50then something transformative happens if
02:53someone punches you in the nose and
02:55instead of punching back in reaction
02:58which is reaction doing the same thing
03:01that they did again giving them the
03:03leadership you respond with the opposite
03:05spirit and we're to embrace them whether
03:08physically or metaphorically
03:10you just change the whole dynamic of
03:13that relationship you are now leading
03:15Jesus through his kindness through his
03:18Mercy through his love
03:21through his servant heartedness changes
03:24the discourse of our relationships he
03:27he is the one who because he does this
03:31earns the title Lord of lords King of
03:36no longer do other people set the agenda
03:39Jesus that's the agenda if you respond
03:43in a christ-like manner you maintain the
03:46leadership in the relationship
03:48and you exemplify the spirit of Christ
03:55even if it means suffering