8 your words solid and sane. Then anyone who is dead set against us, when he finds nothing weird or misguided, might eventually come around.
9 Guide slaves into being loyal workers, a bonus to their masters - no back talk,
10 no petty thievery. Then their good character will shine through their actions, adding luster to the teaching of our Savior God.
11 God's readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation's available for everyone!
– Titus 2: 7-11 (The Message)
Walking the Talk
I used to hear this all the time when I first became a Christian, "If someone accused you of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to get a conviction?" Thank God we don't live in a country where being a Christian will get you killed or thrown in prison. We do however, live in a society (especially here in California), where being a Christian is unpopular and we are portrayed as being weird, or extreme, and even violent. We are described as being closed-minded and the news media would have everyone believe that we are all educated in making bombs intended for abortion clinics in our Sunday School classes. Where did all this misinformation come from?
While there are and always have been those who do horrible things in the name of religion, Jesus was not one of those people. In fact, because He preached peace, love, and compassion, He was ridiculed by those who were seeking a lion – a warrior savior, and not a lamb that would be led to slaughter. The good news is that we, through the power of the Holy Spirit, can change people's perception of Christianity if we are willing to put our own agendas aside, and put on Christ.
By putting on Christ – every morning – we will be empowered to demonstrate great character (even when we think no one is watching), and those who we have influence over (basically everyone we meet), will see the Gospel of Christ lived out as it was intended to be. Don't be fooled though – it isn't as easy as it sounds. Old habits and character flaws will need to be identified and worked on. For example, are you habitually late for work? Do you like to take longer lunches than you should? Do you surf the net when you should be working? How about talking about others behind their back? Do you smoke? Drink a little too much? Does your language need to be cleaned up? Is unforgiveness keeping you from having meaningful relationships? How about your taxes – do you report everything truthfully? In other words, putting on Christ requires taking off the old you – and that will always be a work in progress.
You can do it! It takes practice and a lot of prayer and it takes a genuine desire to be like Christ. You will find however, that as you identify and pray through the areas of your life that need work, you will start to look more and more like Jesus, and those around you will start to notice, and they will be attracted to the new you. They won't be able to find anything weird or misguided in you and they will eventually come around to a place where accepting Christ is definitely a possibility.
Prayer
Lord, You are a God of salvation and Your desire is for everyone to come to know You. Help me to be a good example of the Gospel and how great a life in Christ can be. Help me to get rid of the old habits and character flaws that might prevent others from knowing you. Help me to identify those areas in my life that contradict Your very nature so that there can be no question that I serve only You. I pray that as I go through my day, others can see how good it is to be a Christian – how good it is to be alive!
Have a blessed day everyone!
– Richard
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