The Spirit of Christ

Richard Thetford

As Christians it would be so wonderful to fully possess the spirit of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul told the Romans "...Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom 8:9). Therefore, we realize that as Christians we must possess the spirit of Christ.

What Kind of Spirit Did Christ Possess?

Let's look at the different types of spirit that Christ had. When we think of Christ we often times think that He was obedient as it states in Phil 2:8. In addition Jesus was Humble (Matt 11:29), Forgiving (Luk 23:34), Prayerful (Mar 1:35), Diligent (Luk 2:49), Sympathetic (Heb 4:14-15), Merciful (Heb 2:17), Self-sacrificing (Matt 8:20), Pure (1 John 3:3), Loving (John 15:13), Righteous (Matt 3:15), Patient (1 Pet 2:20-21), Uniform (Heb 13:8), Serving (Phil 2:5-6), and Non-reviling (1 Pet 2:23). I'm sure there are many others that you could name from the scriptures but these are just a few, enough for us to realize that the Christ we serve was perfect. We should want and strive to have the spirit of Christ because we want to be His. As Paul mentioned earlier, we can't belong to Christ if we don't take on the spirit of Christ.

How Can We Obtain This Precious Spirit?

We can obtain the Spirit of Christ by imitating each spirit that Christ our Lord possessed. When we make a commitment to follow Jesus we are also making a commitment to put on the spirit of Christ. It takes a conscious, sincere effort to follow Jesus. Are you putting on the spirit of Christ? Does He know that you are an imitator of Him?