For your sake He became poor
Do you enjoy action movies? I can appreciate a good action movie with a strong storyline. But I’ve also noticed that a lot of the heroes in action movies are fueled by a thirst for vengeance. They want whoever hurt them to pay for what they did.
This is a very human and understandable desire, one that moviemakers know resonates with many people. We feel that we have a right to justice when someone else has wronged us.
But the Bible has a different message. Not to enforce your rights and stand up for yourself till the bitter end, but to lay down your rights.
Jesus is our ultimate example. He laid down all His rights when He came to the earth to save us.
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. – 2 Corinthians 8:9 NIV
As if it were not enough that Christ laid down His rights as God to become a Man, He then went on to lay down His life as a Man for our sake.
“The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” – John 10:17-18 NIV
Jesus calls us to follow His example and to lay down our rights:
Then He said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” – Luke 9:23 NIV
Have you been seeking justice, revenge, vindication or restitution? It is time to let go of your rights and let God fight your battles for you.
