If I could become a Women of Faith speaker I would talk about real life issues that we as Christians face. I would also talk about my past and how the Lord has brought me through many things and if you put your trust in Him, He can bring you too through what you are going through and what you will face in the future. Here is a blog that I wrote last week titled...
Where's The Love?
There are so many scriptures in the Bible where the Lord tells us repeatedly to love one another. Here are just a couple, but there are several throughout the Bible.
1 John 3:23 An this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us.
John 13:34 " A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."
If you have accepted Christ as your personal Lord and Savior you are to love EVERYONE just as Christ loves you. It doesn't matter what they look like, what they have done, who they are, what they have or what they don't have. It is not up to us to pick and choose who we are going to love and who we are not. How are you going to share Christ with an unbeliever (which you are called to do) if you don't love them?
It seems like time and time again people who proclaim to be Christians, and some who are even leading in ministry get upset at someone and blast bad stuff about that person or the whole church all over facebook and to everyone they see. Where's the Love in that? Is that what Christ died on the cross for? Scripture clearly tells us in Matthew 5:23-24 "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to that person; then come offer your gift." The same goes for when we are the one with something against another brother or sister. We are to go immediately to that person and make it right. Ephesians 4:26-27says "In your anger do not sin"; Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. When you are putting negative stuff on your facebook or talking to people about other people or church you are obviously angry. All that is doing is giving the devil a foothold in your life to bring you down and to cause separation and division in the church... It is not solving the problem, so why do it?
As a young Christian it saddens me to see this happening over and over again. The more I am growing in my faith I am learning that this is not the way that we as Christians are supposed to be. We are supposed to be different and set apart. Why would someone want to go to church when the people in the church are acting like this? For years now I have been inviting a friend (much older than I) to come to church with me just once and she refuses to come for this exact reason. She tells me that she doesn't have to go to church to be around a bunch of back stabbing hypocrites, she can get that outside of church. Is that what we want to be known as? I didn't see it until I truly gave my heart to the Lord and started growing in my faith. Now it seems as if I see it all over the place.
There is so much that we do and don't think about how it ruins our witness. We need to the be the same person outside of the church as we are inside the church. Before I had really accepted Christ and started following Him I did not realize how important these things are. You never know who is watching you. Here is a good example of how people watch us and when we don't realize it. Friday night at our Good Friday concert and drama a lady came up to me and thanked for being a friend and encouraging someone she works with, who is a new Christian and recently started attending our church. I have not spoken to the lady that she mentioned other than saying Hi to her, but she has been watching me at church and told her coworker one day at work that I was encouraging her by my walk with the Lord and she even called me a friend. How awesome is that? But look how it could easily go the other way had I been acting in an unchristian manner, because I didn't know someone was watching me.
Here are a couple other things that we "Christians" do that ruin our witness:
Alcohol- It is the same thing with Christians who think that it is okay to go out to the bars and drink... Everyone is always fast to say it's not a sin to drink and Even Jesus drank wine. You are right, it is not a sin but why would an unbeliever want to accept Christ if you who say you are a Christian are doing the same thing as them? How is Christ going to change them if He appearently hasn't changed you because you are still the same things?
Joy- I am still working on this one (smile). When you accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of you. Our Joy is supposed to come from the Lord. Does this mean you are going to be continuously happy? NO. But it should change how we act to others. We should be a Joy to be around and not someone who is continuously upset, angry or complaining.
Sex outside of marriage- This is one that I am learning a lot about. God is very specific about this one and it is the only sin that you can commit that is against your own body and remember your body is the temple. 1Corinthians 6:18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. When you have sex with someone you then become one with that person, how many people are you going to become one with? You may not realize it, but a part of you is now always going to be with that person and a part of them is always going to be with you. You may think you can have sex with someone and it's okay if nobody knows, but guess what, God knows and He is the one who should matter most.
I know that nobody is perfect and believe me I know that I am far from it. I just want to challenge you if you are a Christian to look at things you are doing in your life. Do you live a life that reflects Christ? Can people look at your life and know that you are a Christian? Are you the same person outside of church as you are inside? Many "Christians" think that just because they have said a prayer that they are saved and are Christians. They may even go to church for a little while, but they never change. When you truly give your life to Christ and allow Him to control your life He is going to change you. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come. I know this to be true because I have said a prayer and just kept on living the way I was. I even went to church every Sunday and sang in the praise team. I professed to be a Christian, but I was no different from anyone in the World. All of the things I talked about above I did and did not feel guilty about it, because I wasn't a Christian. I knew who the Lord was and I prayed from time to time. But it wasn't until I truly gave my life to the Lord that I really got to know Him and that is when He started changing my life. Somethings changed faster than others and somethings were harder to let Him change than others, but it feels so good to not have to worry about my life because I know that the Lord is in control. I have lost a lot of friends because of my decision for the Lord and for my changed life, but that is okay because the world is going to hate us. 1 John 3:15 Do not be suprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. If you have not allowed Him to come into your life and change you I pray that you will. Being a Christian doesn't mean your life is going to be all fine and dandy because that is far from it. Being a Christian is tough when we are living in an unchristian nation, but the rewards are so much greater. Are you willing to sacrafice these things for Christ? Afterall He made the ultimate sacrifice for YOU.
