Christ has called us as God’s children to represent Christ and show mercy and integrity to the world. Jesus showed us the true character of the Father and we are to show Jesus’ love and mercy towards others. “Just as You [the Father] sent Me into the world, I [Jesus] am sending them into the world.” (John 17:18). “I am in them and You are in Me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that You sent Me and that You love them as much as You love Me.” (John 17:23). Paul says to Jesus’ followers, “The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you. Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This ‘letter’ is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.” (2 Corinthians 3:2-3). In the lives of all of God’s children, Jesus is sending a letter to the world. As a follower of Christ, we each are letters to our families, our neighborhoods, our workplaces, and our cities.
Jesus, living in our hearts and lives, desires to speak to the hearts of people who do not know Him. Perhaps these people do not read the Bible, or, if they do, they do not hear the Holy Spirit’s voice speaking to them through the Bible’s pages. These people do not see God’s actions as loving. As a witness and representative of Jesus, it may be that through your love and actions with them, they will learn about and understand God’s character and they will submit their hearts to Him.
Christians are commissioned to be light bearers to others on the pathway to heaven. They are to let the light of Jesus shine through them to the world. By their integrity and their actions, love, and character, others will get an accurate picture of Jesus and His character and motives.
As representatives of Christ, we should make working for Him and with Him appear attractive, because it really is. Working for Christ brings fulfillment in our lives. Christians who display a gloom and doom attitude and who are always pointing out the negative in the name of being realistic are giving a false impression to others of God and living the Christian life. They display through their actions that God is not interested in His children being happy, and through these actions, they are spreading lies about our heavenly Father.
Satan is thrilled when he can lead God’s children into doubt, depression, and hopelessness. He is ecstatic when he sees people distrusting and pulling away from God, and doubting God’s motives, willingness, and ability to save them. He loves to see people believing that God’s plan for them will cause pain and suffering. Satan’s job is to make God appear vengeful and not having any compassion or mercy towards humanity. Satan twists God’s truths so they appear to contradict God’s character. He will do all he can to fill our imagination with false ideas concerning God, so that instead of trusting God and His truth, we will view and see God through Satan’s eyes, and spread distrust and rumors against Him. Satan has done a masterful job of twisting our view of a religious life into one filled with gloom and false hope. His plan is to make Christian living appear to others as difficult, meaningless, worthless, and filled with empty rituals; and when Christians present any of these characteristics towards Christianity in their lives, they are silently seconding the claims of Satan.
Next week, we will continue looking at how we should live our lives and interact with others as we celebrate living with Jesus.
~Cam
P.S. As always, if I missed something, or if you would like to respond on this topic, join the conversation below!