I've posted before that sometimes the church looks way too much like the world. I was reminded of this last week as I spent some time with an unbeliever who interacts often with Christians in business settings. This person's view of Christians...and, therefore, Christ...has been tainted from witnessing habitual gossip, slander, judgmental attitudes, backstabbing, and selfishness among those professing to be believers.
We can often brush off our sins with the thought of "afterall, I'm only human" as if somehow that makes our sinning OK. But it is not OK. We are called to "be holy" and to "not be conformed to this world." We are commanded to "put off" the corrupt conduct of our past. This means we don't flirt with a married person and pass it off as being friendly; we don't gossip and pass it off as being concerned about So&So; we don't give a person cause to dislike another Christian by sharing details that should be kept to ourselves; we don't go behind the back of another to get our own way; we don't lie to cover our own reputation. And so on, and so on, and so on.
Until we, the Body of Christ, repent from our sins and "walk in the light," we will continue to misrepresent our Lord and Savior to those who do not know Him.
Yes, our sanctification is a process, but we can habitually walk in holiness if we choose to. I believe that God will honor such a choice and has given us His Word and His Spirit to help us do so. Sin should not be the norm in our life. Let's commit this week to repenting from sin...the sin that may look little in our daily lives but that reveals big issues in our hearts. Yes, God's grace and forgiveness are available should we stumble, but let's not take it for granted. And may the world know better the pure beauty of our Lord by knowing us.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil 4:13
INTERCESSIONS
This week I am just posting verses. Please pray as you feel led by God whether it be for yourself, the church, or our nation. I have marked in bold the words below that stood out to me:
- love one another fervently with a pure heart...1 Peter 1:22
- laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking...1 Peter 2:1
- abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul...1 Peter 2:11
- let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit...1 Peter 3:10
- be hospitable to one another without grumbling...1 Peter 4:9
- let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, and evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters...1 Peter 4:15
- therefore, putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor," for we are members of one another...Eph 4:25
For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men--as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God...1 Peter 2:15
UPDATE: I just listened to a message by John MacArthur and thought it tied in well with this post. It is the one dated March 27: http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/Grace_to_You/archives.asp?bcd=2008-3-27
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment