Mental Prayer for December 14, The Complete Pattern of His Life

Mental Prayer Meditation Helps

Presence of God

Grace I Ask: Not to be deaf to His challenge, but ready and eager to do His holy will.

The Idea: Now, more specifically, what was the life of Christ like? What was His special way of saving the souls of men? We know the answer: above all, Christ saved men by freely and gener­ously suffering on the cross, making Himself a sacrifice for others.

But His whole life followed that same pattern. The cross was only its climax. Christ devoted His entire life to giving Himself unselfishly for the good of others; He traveled unceasingly from one village to another, teaching men, comforting them in their troubles, curing their sicknesses, streng­thening them to live good lives. He worked at these self-imposed and difficult tasks unsparingly and to the point of exhaustion again and again. Christ did all of this without aiming at any reward in this life for Himself, without any hope of reward, just because it was a good thing to do.

My Personal Application: No wonder men have always admired the life of Christ - even atheists and unbelievers have been forced to admit that He left all of us an admirable example, the most outstanding ever seen in all human history.

This is the life after which I should be patterning my own. And the key to that life is unsparing devotion to the good of others, even to the point of death if necessary, an unselfish labor for the love of God. Do other people mean that much to me? Can I hope to improve my attitude? Have I been giving that great life of Christ's the study it deserves?

I Speak to Christ: Dear Jesus, if I could ever become one-thousandth the person you were, I would be happy and would make others happy all my life long. I would like to follow the examples of my favorite saints, of the finest people I know here and now, unselfish, generous people I really like, and try to be more like you.

Thought for Today: "The Son of God came not to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many."
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Adapted from Mental Prayer, Challenge to the Lay Apostle
by The Queen's Work,(© 1958)