I Pet. 4:1

"Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;" I Pet. 4:1

Having the same mind as Christ...

A willingness to suffer...

A ceasing from sin in the sense that we are truly surrendered...

We think of Christ's physical sufferings and can often share with Him in this way...

We think of the sufferings of persecution, too, and the scriptures say that a godly person SHALL suffer persecution....

"Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." II Tim. 3:12

Are we suffering for our faith?

I've been thinking recently also about all the mental and emotional pain that Christ suffered...the emotional pain of his best friends forsaking him, the emotional pain of separation from the Father He loved, etc....

Emotional pain is difficult..."Hurts" that come from those we love the most here on earth are the hardest to bear...Family and friends who hurt us with their words and actions...This is PAIN indeed!

But Jesus understands the pain...

And we are sharing in His sufferings when we have this kind of deep,emotional pain, too...

We are to have the SAME MIND as Christ....a willingness to suffer for truth....a willingness to go deep with God although we may be going it all alone...a willingness to suffer the "hurts" when there is lack of spiritual oneness....

It says in this verse that we are to "arm" ourselves with the same mind as Christ. The word "arm" means "to equip with weapons", and this makes me think of the spiritual warfare of Eph. 6:11-18....

"girt about with truth....the breastplate of righteousness, feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, ...helmet of salvation...the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God....


And above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith we shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked."

I often think of this shield of faith....It's so easy to misplace or lose it in the midst of battle, but it's the thing that will quench the fiery darts. Praise the Lord! Let's take it up again if we've lost it!