Philippians 2: How you live matters

March 9 - 15, 2025 | Always Peachy Devotionals | The Book of Philippians Week 2

Once you know Jesus, you can live however you want.

Right? Isn’t that the case? Jesus died for us so that we could be free from religious dogma and legalistic rituals. He died so we could be free to live however we want. And God wants us to be happy, doesn’t He?

I kind of want to set that last paragraph on fire. Could you imagine someone walking up to the Apostle Paul and declaring that? Or Peter? Yikes.

There are so many things wrong with all the statements in that paragraph that I don’t even know where to begin. But that’s the attitude many Christians walk around with today. They hear that Jesus set them free, and to them that means they can do whatever they want.

And, to a certain extent, yes, a Christian can do whatever he or she wants and not fear eternal damnation. But the fact is, if you say you are a Christian and can live a lifestyle of sinful behaviors, it’s probably a good idea to make sure you believe what you say you believe. Because you can’t encounter Jesus truly and not be changed.

Jesus didn’t die to free us from religion; He died to free us from the power of sin that controls our hearts. How we live matters, especially after we have accepted Jesus as our Savior. And that is a common theme found in Philippians, that the way we choose to live is an important indicator of what we truly believe.

If you are living for Jesus, your life will look different than it used to. You will be different because your priorities have changed. It’s a process. It rarely happens overnight. And we won’t ever achieve perfection in this life, because nothing in this life can be perfect. But one day at a time, one step at a time, followers of Jesus seek to become more like Him. That’s the entire point of following Him.

So what does that look like? How do we do that? How do we live a life that draws us closer to Jesus? That’s what we’re talking about this week as we study Philippians 2:

• Monday - Agree with each other (Philippians 2:1-4)

• Tuesday - Your attitude (Philippians 2:5-11)

• Wednesday - Live for Jesus (Philippians 2:12-18)

• Thursday - Timothy (Philippians 2:19-24)

• Friday - Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25-30)

The fancy theological term for the process we undergo as we become more like Jesus is sanctification. You can think about it like a sculptor working on a block of marble. He chips away at it over a long period of time. With every strike of the hammer and chisel, more of the marble falls away until the masterpiece underneath takes shape.

In that picture, you and I are the marble, and God is the sculptor. He is shaping our lives every day for a purpose, to make us more like Jesus. But that requires Him to chip away at all the excess material in our lives. Our sin. Our preconceived notions. Our preferences. Our opinions. There is nothing in our lives that God doesn’t touch, that He doesn’t have the right to shape as He sees fit.

It’s not a fun process. It’s humbling, because you realize that you don’t always have the answers. You learn that you can’t be good enough, even if you try with everything you have. But a miracle happens when Jesus takes up residence in your life: You want to do things His way.

His opinions matter to you. His thoughts are precious to you. His way makes sense to you. That is the power of God in your life, and that’s the verse we’re memorizing this week, Philippians 2:13.

In every way possible, God is Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides what He requires. We need a perfect, spotless record to have eternal life? He gave us the record of His Son, Jesus. We need to live a life that honors Him? He works a miracle in our hearts, giving us the desire and ability to do life His way.

Following Jesus isn’t easy. There’s a reason Christ said this is a narrow road. But Jesus has already done the hard part (the impossible part, the part only He could do). For us, we just have to follow. That means we obey, because the more we honor Him with our life and our choices, the more people understand that He is the only way.

If you know Jesus, your life should be different from the people around you who don’t know Him. If you fit in completely and nobody can identify you as a follower of Christ, maybe you don’t know Him as well as you think.

We’ve got some tough questions this week, my friends. I’m praying for all of us.

Amy

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