Straining Forward, through Righteousness of Jesus Christ

Philippians 3

Living as Heavenly Citizens 

by 

Straining Forward, through Righteousness of Jesus Christ

     When I was 14 my parents moved us from Dallas Texas to Montello Wisconsin.  We moved there to plant a church.  It was December 17, 1998.  As a family we were super excited to be back in the cold and snow for Christmas.  That year for Christmas my parents got my brothers and I snowboards, little did they how much that would change our lives.  We became avid snowboarders, spending time (for a few years, 3-4 times a week), money , energy, and injures on the slops and terrain parks.  This gift that our parents gave us shaped our future and direction we went in life.  This is similar to what Paul is talking about in Philippians 3.  Through faith (and salvation) we are given Jesus Christ’s righteousness, and this gift should shape our future and give us both goals and direction for our life.   

Philippians 3 (ESV)

[3:1] Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.

[2] Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. [3] For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—[4] though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: [5] circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; [6] as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. [7] But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. [8] Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—[10] that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [11] that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

[12] Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. [13] Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, [14] I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. [15] Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. [16] Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

[17] Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. [18] For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. [19] Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. [20] But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, [21] who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

     Before we go on we need to define righteousness.  When are talking about this word we are talking about an attribute of God, the right and just character of God.  One of his many facets.  Just like a diamond that has many facets, when you put all those facets together you get a whole diamond.  The same is with God you have all his facets or attributes, and when you put them all together you get who God is.  His righteousness is part of his perfection, it is the truth that everything he does is right and never wrong.  He is perfect.  His righteousness is why we as a human race are condemned to hell, because we are not righteous.  Everything we do is tainted by sin, and is unrighteous. Because of this we are desperately in need of salvation,  a savior, and a righteousness that is not our own!   

     In verses two through six we see that during the time of Paul, there where people trying to tell Christians that for them to be truly saved they needed to have the gospel of Jesus and follow the law of the Jews. But Paul said no no, the only thing we have is Jesus Christ.  There is nothing of the flesh that can save us.  Paul makes the statment “For we are the circumcision,”  what he is referring to is the tradition of the Jews that marked them as God’s people.  The act of circumcision was cutting way some extra flesh off of new born boys when they were eight days old.  In this passage Paul is saying that now, through the spirit of God we are the circumcision, our flesh has been cut away, we no longer are of the flesh or things of this world.  But people still tried to bring the flesh back into being saved, Jesus and something else.  We do this a lot of times “My hope is in Jesus... and sports.”  “My salvation is Jesus... and my friends.” Or “I am righteous because of Jesus ...and how many times I read my bible a week.”  And last but not least “I know I’m righteous because of Jesus... and because I am better then that person.”  But we cannot put our faith in fleshly things, if anybody could it was Paul but he did not!  Paul did it all and had it all when it came to finding salvation through works but Paul did not hold on to that.

     In fact he counted it as lost.  Looking at verses seven and eight Paul shows us his view of the gain he did have.  Any gain, ANY TYPE OF GAIN we have in this world needs to be counted as loss, not worth a heavenly dime (or worldly dime for that matter).  The gain that Paul is talking about here is a salvation type of gain.  Anything we try to do to find salvation, any “gain” that we use for a type of salvation from the emptiness that sin has left in our lives.  Even though there is nothing in this world that can save us, we still try to find things that will.  There are two types of gain we try to find a lot.  One is work types gain to get us in better with God.  It is the right object of our salvation, God, but the wrong way to him.  We have to be this good to be “in” with God.  If we sin we better do something good to offset it.  To be a good Christian we have our “do and do not” list.  The gain we are getting here is a salvation through works.  The second type of gain is by having something all together different from Jesus Christ be our savior.  A job, home, boyfriend/girlfriend, spouse, vacation, schooling, the weekend, drugs/alcohol, sports, anything that we put our hope in, trust in, and faith in instead of finding our salvation in Christ Jesus.  Both of these “gains” are sin and need to be repented of and then put Christ in his proper place in your life.  All of these different types of gain need to be counted as loss. 

     Why do we count all of this loss? Because of the worth of knowing Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior.  This is freedom from sin, hope in the future, receiving the love and the grace of our Creator.  None of these other gains have any hope for the future.  In the end they will leave us empty and hopeless, never satisfying.  If your salvation is the weekend, there is always Monday.  If it is a boy/girlfriend, they will let you down, hurt you, and in the end they will die.  If it is drugs or alcohol it will leave you with a hangover and needing more.  But a lot of times still the worth of knowing Christ dose not out way the things and gains of this world (the things of flesh), making it hard to count these things as loss.  We need to strive to live in the gospel everyday, understanding and moving toward Jesus Christ.  We need to know the worth of Christ in our lives.  We need to understand sin and what it has done to us and in us.  According to Romans, it leaves like walking dead people, but it is Christ, who in the end, bore that sin for us and has made us alive, we HAVE TO know the worth of Christ in our life. 

     Just as Paul did we have to suffer the loss of all things, and he did this by looking at them as a pile of poop (really) or rubbish (which is not worth much) compared to the gain we have in Christ.  He viewed the gains of this world as a pile of dung, compared to Christ! Just think if this was how we always lived our life, Jesus Christ would shout out from our lives and in our words.  Is this your view of Jesus?  Or is he just fire insurance? 

     In verses nine through eleven Paul shows us what this gain of Christ is.  The gain of Jesus Christ is his righteousness.  This is awesome, because it is completely of Christ.  We are found in Him!  We can have a righteousness that is not our own.  This is a huge pressure off of us, God views us is through Jesus and not through our works.  This righteousness that we get from Jesus is given to us through our faith in Jesus Christ and his work done on and through the cross.  It is that same faith that allows us to reject the things of this world as salvation.  This righteousness works because of what Jesus did for us, he took our place.  He died for us, taking our sin, our shame, and our guilt and bore it on the cross!  HE took our emptiness, hopelessness, and deadness and paid for it on the cross.  Then Jesus was put in a grave just to be resurrected from the dead, truly defeating death!  We then share in the death he took for us and then share in his great resurrection.  This is our hope, we do not have to fear death, Jesus beat that for us, and then made us righteous.  I no longer fear death, I know that when this body dies I will be resurrected like Jesus, to be with Jesus.  This is the gain of Jesus, this is what he does for us through his righteousness.  Allowing us to do what we were created to do, glorify God through the lives that he gave us. 

     So then what do we do with this righteousness?  In verses twelve through nineteen Paul lets us know.  We are to be straining forward toward the goal of Christ Jesus.  It is a processes to make this righteousness our own.  Even though at the point of salvation this righteousness is ours, and that is how God sees us, we have to make it our own in our everyday life.  It takes time for us to start living through this righteousness.  Just as a person who was a slave their whole life and then set free, has to work at living like a free person, so do we have to learn how to live like a righteous person.  We do this because Jesus Christ has made us his own.  This needs to be our attitude, a striving toward Christ, making his righteousness our own.  Putting behind us past failures and not letting them hold us back.  Not looking back at sins that we want to hang on to.  Moving then toward a goal, the prize that God has called us to through Jesus Christ.  Not only are we striving forward, but there is a goal that we are looking toward.  It gives us a direction to go for, a goal that puts guidelines on our life.  We can get a picture of this from Major League Baseball.  As Baseball is coming upon the playoffs we can start to see teams reaching the goals they have set before them.  Those goals have dictated theirs lives since spring training.  All players want to win the World Series and because of that they do not let anything get in the way of that goal.  We have a goal and that is becoming like Jesus Christ through his righteousness.  When we have a goal like this it affects every area of our lives.  Everything we do in a day is and should be focus on that goal, our schooling, how we hanging out with friends, when are playing sports,  or how we are living with our families. 

Paul then gives us a compare and contrast.  Paul encourages us to follow his and people like him’s example.  Part of moving forward is finding the right people to imitate.  We need to find God fearing, Jesus loving, gospel filled people to watch and learn from.  We do this in comparison with watching and imitating people who do not know Jesus.  Paul says that their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in the things that should bring them shame.  These people are enemies of the cross and they only have their minds on the things of this world (the flesh).  We should not imitate them, befriend them?  Yes.  Love them through the gospel?  Yes.  Follow their example?  No.   

     Paul leaves us with verses twenty and twenty one, which is the theme verses of this series.  Again in comparison with the people who have their minds on the things of this world, we are to see our citizenship in heaven.  God has us here on earth to complete the mission he started, but we know that we are not for this world or the things of this world, we are made for heaven and the glorification of God.  We are here waiting on and hoping in Jesus Christ, know that we will get our glorified bodies because of the righteousness we have in Jesus Christ.    

     So as we are kicking off another school year, how does this idea of “straining forward with the righteousness of Christ” play into that?  We need to be looking forward to this school through eyes that are covered in Christ righteousness.  This school year is not just about getting through another grade, and completing your goals.  It is about striving for the goals Christ has set for us. How are you getting your “righteousness” or salvation?.  Are you trying to get your own righteousness through things that you DO?  Are you putting your faith in Jesus Christ or are you putting it in the things of this world.  Are you counting the things of this world loss compared to the worth of knowing Jesus? 

     Are you moving? What direction? What goal?  Are making this righteousness your own? Are you moving forward toward the goal of Jesus Christ and your future with him?  Or are you stuck?  Are you looking to things of this world or things you once had? 

     Who’s example are you following?.  Are you looking to the example of Paul and other gospel filled people or the example of the world around you?  Are you getting more of an example how how your life should be lived from stars, athletes, musicians, non-believing friends, and the culture around you or from people who love Jesus and are making Christ righteousness their own?

Man I just get excited writing this,  God is so good!

Grace and Peace 

Jesse 

Being Lights to this World

August 10th  2012

Philippians 2:12-18

Living as Heavenly Citizens 

by 

Being Lights to this World

     I have this app on my iPhone.  It is the flashlight app and it is one of the most used apps on my phone.  Now when I use the app in a lighted room it is hard to tell that it is on.  Unless you are looking right at it you cannot see that the app is on.  But in a dark room the phone could be on the other side of the room facing away from you and you can still tells that it is on.  This is because when the lights are on, the flashlight is no different then the light around it and blends in with the rest of the light, but when the lights are off it is very different and it shines bright in the darkness.  Go ahead and try it, see what happens.

     The same is true in our Christian life, if it is the same as the world around us we will shine no brighter then the rest of the world, we will blend right in.  But if we are different, if we truly live as Heavenly Citizens our light will be very different and will shine bright in this world.  In Philippians 2:12-18 Paul is calling us to be lights to this 

world, by living according to our salvation and not according to this world.

Philippians 2:12-18 ESV

[12] Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, [13] for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

[14] Do all things without grumbling or disputing, [15] that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, [16] holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. [17] Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. [18] Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

     Paul starts off this passage by building on what he has already said, continuing the idea of encouraging the church to keep growing and obeying, and to keep them looking at what he has already laid out and to keep looking to the example of Jesus Christ in Phil. 2:9-11.  Paul calls us to obey by “Working out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”   Paul is not saying that we are saved through our works, nor that any works can save us other then Jesus’ work on the cross.  No, Paul is saying to work OUT your salvation. How does the fact that I am a Christian work itself out in my life? How does the gospel come out in my everyday activities?  Dose the fact that I’m saved come out in how I study or do homework?  Or in how I treat my family?  Does the gospel which is in my life come out in the movies I watch or the music I listen too?  How does my salvation affect my workplace?  We are to be making an effort to make sure that every area of our life is affected by our salvation.  This is not something that just happens or is easy, it is something the we participate in and have to work at.  Are you taking time everyday to work on this?  To actively work out your salvation? 

The the second part of this command is just as interesting as the first. “with fear and trembling.”   Paul here is giving us the conduct with which we are to work out our salvation, and it is no joking manner.  Paul wants us to be vary serious about how we work our our salvation.  In a interview last week Olympian Micheal Phelps was asked why he came back this past year to train for and participate in the 2012 London Olympics.  He responded, “I didn’t want to have any ‘What if’s.’”  That fear of having what if’s motivated Phelps to train like crazy.  That is what Paul is talking about here, we do not want to have any what if’s. “What if I would have acted different at work would more people of come to Christ?”  The fear of not using our salvation to its fullest should motivate us to action.  This is a call to steward our salvation, and always asking if we are using this gift God has given us for his purpose.  

     Verse 13 says “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”  In the end it is God’s work IN us that allows us to do anything and is nothing of ourselves.  Paul uses a play on words here to give us a picture.  We are to work OUT our salvation, because of how God works IN us.  God gives us what we need and then allows us to participate by allowing us to work out the things he has put in us.  This is all for his will and good pleasure.  

     Paul then goes in to verse 14 giving us an area that we need to be working out our salvation. He says “Do all things without grumbling or disputing,”   Thats crazy, all things?  Paul brings this up because it is poison in our personal lives and in the church.  It causes people to be divided, not allowing them to work together or be unified.  It starts inward, slowly moving through the heart and then outward into the mouth, then from your mouth into someone else’s heart to start all over again.  It looks a little like this.  Inward ...It starts inward, in our heart, we hear something we don’t like, a leader or parent tells us some we do not want to hear. Another student/coworker does something we think is annoying, or immature and we let those things dwell or fester in our hearts.  OR someone says something that is hurtful and we dwell on it growing bitter, “I thought they were my friend, I can’t believe they would say something like that.”  This is how it starts in our own soul.  Outward ...After it infects our heart and soul it starts to spew out of our mouths, into the hearts and souls of the people around us.  “I can’t believe Jesse told me to do this! Can you?”  Did you hear what she did?”  “I don’t like this person I think I am going to go somewhere else/do something else.”  We are one body that is suppose to be unified and this is the exact opposite of being unified.  This is how the world lives and acts every day.  The world thrives on grumbling about someone else, or complaining about what is going on at work.  This is why the sports teams that have the most grumblers and disputers get talked about the most on ESPN, because that is what sells and what people want to see.  If we truly are to be different so that our lights shine brighter we need to do EVERYTHING WITH OUT GRUMBLING AND DISPUTING.  

     Going on into verse 15 Paul says that if live this way (with out grumbling) we will be blameless and innocent, Children of God, without blemish.  He goes on to say that IF we live this way our light will shine bright and we will be lights to this world.  The more we are different then this world the brighter our lights will shine.  I am not saying that we need to become Amish and be different to the point of being separatists, but being different in how we treat people.  Being different by having a community that operates on different principles.  By having hearts that are filled with the gospel and live true, joy filled lives.  

     In the last few verses of this passage Paul talks about the sacrifice he is willing to make for the church of Philippi.  He says he is willing to be poured out like a drink offering for the people.  And then he says that he is “glad and rejoice with you all.”   He is offering up his life for this church and he is glad and joy filled.  This is the attitude we need to have if we really are going to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.  If we really are going to do all things with out grumbling and questioning, and if we are going to truly shine like stars!

     In closing, God calls us to obey him because of what he has done for us, we do this by working out our salvation in our lives which God put there for his purposes.  If we are working out our salvation we will start to do all things with out grumbling or questioning, allowing us to be what God wants and then that lets us shine like stars or lights in this world.  We do this because we view our lives as an offering to Christ and because we are joy filled by it.

Jesse 

Philippians 2:1-11 Having Unity through Humility

August 2nd 2012

Philippians 2:1-11 

Living as Heavenly Citizens 

by

Having Unity through Humility 

     About 7 years ago right around this time I was working third shift in a factory.  This was a college summer job.  Along with me was my two younger brothers, Jeremy and Casey, and my cousin Josh.  All four us were working from 10:30pm to 7:30am.  Josh and I in one factory and Jeremy and Casey in another just down the street.  We all road together to work.  On the way to work was normally somber and sad, and then on the way home it was a time of celebration (really)!  Well on one particular morning Casey and I got into an argument.  I do not really remember what we were arguing about but it got pretty serious.  On that ride home we were going to stop at Wal-Mart.  By the time we got to Wal-Mart Casey and I’s argument was in full swing.  When we got out of the car Casey and I were ready to “throw it down” or punch each other out.  By God’s blessing Jeremy (the peacemaker of the family) was there to brake up the fight.  

     This story is an example of the exact opposite of what Paul is calling the church in Philippi to do.  Now I do not remember exactly what we were arguing about, but I know the reason it escalated.  It escalated because we were not living as heavenly citizens, and were not being unified through humility.  I was trying to get my point a crossed and make Casey see my point of view and Casey was trying to do the same.  If we just could have lived out Philippians 2:1-11 this whole ordeal could have and would have been avoided.*

     In Philippians 2:1-11 Paul puts together a very Paul like argument.  It goes something like  this.  “If you have this (blessings from being a Christian), then do this (be unified), by being this, (humble), in the power of and example of this (Jesus Christ).”  Paul puts together very liner way for us to see that if we are to “Live as Citizens of Heaven” we need to “Have Unity by Humility”.

     In Verse one Paul makes the statement, “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,”**.  Paul here starts this passage out with the word “if”, “if there is any...” Paul wants the church of Philippi to look back over their lives and see if they have any of the blessings of a Christian.  Have you ever been encouraged by the fact that Jesus is in your life, or that you do not have to fear what is happing in the world around you because your hope is in Christ?  Have you ever had comfort from the love of Christ?  At times in your life when you have been in the dumps has another Christian come along and loved on you?  Helped you get back to your identity in Christ?  Have you ever felt the Holy Spirit working in your soul?  Being convicted of sin as you pray?  While singing songs of worship the Holy Spirit is doing something in your heart?  These are the things that Paul is talking about.  Blessings that we have because we are followers of Jesus Christ.  Paul is showing us that we have had blessings already here on this earth.  Paul then goes on to say “complete my joy” finish what you have started in Christ.  Takes these blessings and make them all the more.  And what is that “more”? 

     Paul says in verse two “complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.”  Paul is calling the Philippine church to be of the same mind, on the same mission with the same outlook.  Having the same love, the love of Jesus Christ that binds us together.  Being of one accord, feeling the same way moves us in the same direction.  Being of one mind, having one goal.  A great example of this is a football team.  Right now they are reporting to training camp.  They all have the same love, the love of football and competition.  They are all of one accord, playing on the same team.  And they are all of one mind winning, the Super Bowl.  If at anytime these change you get drama.  One player wants the ball more to get his stats up, another player wants more money, the team is no longer unified and more then likely going to start losing.  Paul is calling on the church to be unified.  If they/we have the blessings of a believer then we need to take the next step and be of the same mind, moving in one direction, toward Jesus. 

     So if have the blessings of being a Christian, then we need to be of the same mind or live in unity as a church.  We do this by living humble lives.  Verses three and four say “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” That’s crazy!  Do NOTHING from selfish ambition.  Our first action and reaction is always about self.  Just think about the decisions you make every day.  What should I eat?  What should I wear? What should I do for pleasure?  What time should I go to bed?  Most of what we do subconsciously is all about self.  But Paul is calling us to do nothing out of selfish ambition.  He then says “in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”  This is how we counter our selfish ambition, by living in humility and counting others more significant then yourself.  This is how we train ourselves to over come our selfish ambition.  This is also so counter cultural  there is no way this will go unnoticed.  If an entire group of people (a church) start living this way people’s minds would be blown.  If people would really listen to each other and not just wait  till they can express their opinions again.  Or if people were always looking to serve each other before they served themselves, that would be and can be an awesome picture.  The last part of these verses Paul is talking about interests.  He says to “not only look after”  your own interests “but also the interests of others.”  Here Paul is not condemning people for looking out for his/her own interest, but to also look out for the interests in the people around him/her.  A great example of this idea of putting others ahead of your self is Samwise Gamgee from “Lord of the Rings”.  Sam goes throughout the movie serving and taking care of Frodo, always putting Frodo ahead of himself.  He still takes care of himself but is always looking out for Frodo.  

     Just take a minute and think about what a church would look like if everyone treated each other this way.  First off there would be a lot more unity and moving in one direction, but then there would also be a lot more support for one another.  This would be an amazing community to be apart of (might look a little like the church in Acts 2).  We as believers would benefit from this.  But something else would happen too, people from outside the church would see what was going on and would want that.  God has created us for community and the world is not doing a great job at providing meaningful community, making this one of the church’s greatest weapons to reach the world.  

     In closing and application Paul leaves us with how we get the power to do this and our example of this, JESUS CHRIST!  Paul says “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself,.”  Jesus was in the very form of God (because he is God, God the Son) put himself under God.  Are we putting others higher then ourselves just as Jesus did?  In our conversations are we really listening to the other person or are we just waiting till we can bring the conversation back to our favorite topic, self?  Can we give up our right to be right?  How many arguments could be ended if someone just gave up their “right” to be right.  Jesus emptied himself, gave up his right, his godness to become a man.  We need empty ourselves for the sake of others.  Paul goes on “but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  Jesus took on the form of a servant, are we doing that?  When we walk into the church is it to serve and be a servant or are we looking to be served?  When we hang out with our friends are we looking to serve them or just have fun (serving ourselves)?  Are we actively looking for people who need the love and help of Jesus Christ and his church? Jesus gave up his godness to become a human servant and then humbled himself to the point of death for our sake!  Thats nuts, and thats our example!       

     “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  Paul ends this passage by showing how God exalted Jesus after he humbled himself.  This gives us hope in a few ways.  This is our hope for the future, we know what is going to happen, Jesus will be glorified and worshiped as God, He has won already.  We know this, which is why we live as heavenly citizens.  It also takes our hope off this life and this world and puts it on the next.  When we do that it is easier to give up the “pleasers” of this world and become a servant.  We also know just as Jesus was resurrected and given a new glorified body, and we will be resurrected and given a glorified body too (Phil. 2:20-21). 

     God has blessed his people and out of those blessings  he has called his church to be unified and on one mission, we do that buy living humbly, through the power of Jesus Christ, by the example of Jesus Christ.  I wish that day 7 years ago Casey and I would have had this in mind, it would have kept us from sining and made it a lot easier on our brother Jeremy.      

*Casey and I are no longer mad at one another (most likely we were fine 2 hours later) and Casey is one of my best friends and a great brother in Christ (and blood brother).  I love him like only true brothers in Christ can. This goes for both of my brothers, Jeremy (the peacemaker in the story) and Casey (my rival at the time).  

**All italics are passages in the bible from the ESV translation.