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Courtesy is Christ Like Conduct
We have only five articles left on
our list of studies for courtesy. We actually have
14 week days left to the JG month. If you will
permit me, I am going to adlib a bit. For our next
two studies, I want to include the points of a
sermon I presented on courtesy at the congregation.
This will be repetitious for our own congregation
who receive these bulletins. I hope the repetition
will remind us again. The basic point of the lesson
was that courtesy was not just an option, but an
integral characteristic of Christ and
Christ-likeness. I listed ten Christian principles
that are involved in the practice of courtesy, all
of which are demanded for Christ-like conduct.
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Consideration - (Phil. 2:3-4)
Courtesy is the consideration of others: when we
let others go first, when we pick something
someone has dropped, when we excuse ourselves
because of some slight social offense like
bumping into someone, when apologize for a wrong
word or act, when we encourage the discouraged,
when we acknowledge someone’s presence or
arrival, when we greet in passing. All of these
are part of “looking also on the things of
others.”
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Attendance – (Heb. 10:24-25)
We often refer to Heb. 10:25 showing God’s
requirement for us to attend worship. But verse
24 shows it is the courteous thing to do. We are
to “consider one another.” That is what Paul
commands us in Phil. 2:3-4 discussed above. We
are to “provoke one another” to growth in love
and good works. When I absent myself from the
services, I am saying that the others who will
be there are not worthy of my consideration (a
lack of courtesy). I am letting them be more
discouraged by my absence than encouraged by my
presence and exhortation. This is not what
Christ would do is it?
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Kindness – (2 Pet. 1:7; Eph.
4:32) Courtesy is one of the expressions of
kindness. If we were to describe kindness, it
would include courtesy as part of the
definition. According to Webster, courtesy is an
expression or act of kindness toward another
person. It is to be added (laid along side) to
our faith according to Peter. Once again, we see
that courtesy is an essential of Christian
character and is thus included in our Joshua
Generation characteristics.
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Goodness – (Gal. 5:22-23)
After the discussions above, this one seems
almost redundant. But let me point out that
goodness is part of the fruit of the Spirit.
That is, if we grow in Christ by following God’s
word, we will be putting on an attribute of God
(Rom. 2:4). All courtesy is an act of goodness.
Therefore courtesy will become part of the
make-up of a child of God.
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Golden rule – (Mt. 7:12) Have
you ever been treated in such a fashion that you
described it as “rude”? Then you have been
treated so by someone who violated what we have
come to call the golden rule. Discourteous
behavior is contrary to the way we want to be
treated.
Tomorrow:
Love |