AS A CHRISTIAN, WHAT SHOULD OTHERS SEE IN ME?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and
admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms,
hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
(Colossians 3:16)

MEDITATION:
Have you ever thought about the kind of an attitude a Christian should
have? Believers should be known as individuals filled with joy, along
with a desire to encourage others and correct them in wisdom and love
whenever they begin to stray from God’s principles.

Being a follower of Jesus doesn’t mean a life without difficulties. We may
have challenges, but we have been assured that the Lord will never leave
of forsake us. Christians should not be anxious about anything, but through
prayer we should make our requests to our loving Heavenly Father, even
though He already knows our needs.
    Do not be anxious about anything, but in
    every situation, by prayer and petition, with
    thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
    (Philippians 4:6)

When we experience our greatest problems, we have One we can
go to. We can pour out our heart to God with the assurance that
He will not abandon us in our time of need. He will provide us
with answers to the things that are troubling us.

Christians are to fill their minds with those things that are good.
What are the things that are good? A good question and the answer
can be found in God’s Word.
    Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true,
    whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever
    is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable;
    if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think
    about such things.
    (Philippians 4:8)

These are the things we are to think about, and when we do,
God will be with us.
    Whatever you have learned or received
    or heard from me, or seen in me—put
    it into practice. And the God of peace
    will be with you.
    (Philippians 4:9)

Christians should have a positive and not a negative attitude.
We need to think about the great things God has done for us.
Too often we get bogged down with the negative things the
world throws at us. Instead, we should focus on the things
that will cause us to rejoice.

ACTION:
Why is it important for others to perceive us as followers of Jesus?
Because our lives serve as a confirmation of our faith and is one way
we can share our testimony with others. We support and confirm our
faith through our words, actions, thoughts and attitudes.

Being honest, we have few opportunities to share our testimony
of faith with others. But we need to be prepared to tell others
about our faith at any moment. Few of us are comfortable with
sharing our testimony in front of a large group of people, but we
can share it with many people by the way we live our lives.

In the book of James, we are commanded to make changes in our
lifestyles.
    Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the
    evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept
    the word planted in you, which can save you.
    (James 1:21)

Satan wants to convince us that when we chose to follow Jesus,
we have been forgiven of our sins, and that’s true, but it doesn’t
mean our sinful habits magically disappear, does it? We know
how the sins of our past continue to ‘hang around’ waiting for
a time of weakness so they can ‘drag’ us back into a sinful rut.

If Satan’s attempts to lure us away were like a plunge into water,
we would probably have a stronger resistance to it. Satan knows
that so he gradually deceives us so he can gain a foothold in our
life. It can begin in our mind as something that ‘sounds’ positive.

We decide that we need to test our faith and prove that when we
are tempted with the sins of our past, we can boldly walk away
from them. We view it as a way of developing confidence in our
faith and our ability to resist attacks from the evil one.
    Therefore, since we are surrounded by such
    a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off
    everything that hinders and the sin that so
    easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance
    the race marked out for us
    (Hebrews 12:1)

Notice the ‘warning’ in the previous verse? We are told that sin
can ‘easily entangle’ us, which assures us that sin in any shape
or form is nothing to be ‘toyed with’. Anytime we want to prove
we are resistant to sin, sin will devastate us by proving we are
still vulnerable. In addition, we will be overwhelmed by guilt
and disappointment for allowing sin to control us again.
    If they have escaped the corruption of the world
    by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and
    are again entangled in it and are overcome, they
    are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.
    (2 Peter 2:20)

Instead of trying to prove our faith through an encounter with sin
which can quickly entangle us, we need to prove our faith through
the life we live and focus on actions that support our faith. Why?
Because others believe ‘faith in action’ more than they believe
‘faith in words’.
    What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone
    claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith
    save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without
    clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them,
        “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,”
    but does nothing about their physical needs, what
    good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not
    accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say,
        “You have faith; I have deeds.”
    Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you
    my faith by my deeds.
    (James 2:14-18)

These verses clearly show us the importance of confirming
our faith through the way we live. We aren’t told that our
‘deeds’ will save us, but rather they will ‘prove our faith’
and that is our testimony to others that our faith is genuine.

Questions to ask ourselves:
    – Do others recognize me as a Christian based on my attitude,
       my perspective, and the way I live my life?
    – What do others see in my life that assures them I am a Christian?
    – What am I doing, or not doing that causes
       others to question the sincerity of my faith?
    – When, and how often do I make a special effort to check
       on others, and especially those with health or other issues?
    – What changes should I make to improve my image as a Christian?
    – What changes should I make to improve my enjoyment of life?
    – Have I limited my ‘deeds’ to those closest to me, or do I make
       an effort to reach those outside of my ‘inner circle’ as well?
       Have I asked the Lord to expand the area of those I reach out to?
           Look at the prayer of Jabez – He asked the lord to expand his
           reach and God responded to his request. Jabez was asking the
           Lord to increase land area, but his prayer reminds us that we
           can ask God to expand our outreach area.
               Jabez cried out to the God of Israel,
               “Oh, that you would bless me and
               enlarge my territory! Let your hand
               be with me, and keep me from harm
               so that I will be free from pain.” And
               God granted his request.
               (1 Chronicles 4:10)

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for Your promises. Help me to hide
Your Word in my heart so that I can be a witness to others by the
way I live. I know that when Your Word is foremost in my mind,
I will discover a new enjoyment of living my time here on earth.
You know the things that trouble me the most and I ask You to
teach me what I need to know so I can cope with them. In faith
I give it all over to You and I praise You, knowing Your love will
not fail. I praise You for who You are and for all the amazing
blessings You have given me.”

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