Christian Living

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This is from a sermon I heard. Come to think of it, what does God think of you? Does He see you as a hypocrite, claiming to be His follower? Does he see you as an actor playing the role of living a double standard life? As children of God, don’t we wish that He would be proud of us and even boast about us to the devil? God boasted of His Son when He said, “This is beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).

God also boasted of his servant Job to the devil saying, “Have you thought of my servant Job? No one in the world is like him! He is a man of integrity: He is decent, he fears God and he stays away from evil.” As humans as we all are, we all want our parents and loved ones to be proud of us because of what we do and what we stand for. And the best feeling to have in this world is to know that our Holy and Heavenly Father is so proud of us! So for us to lead lives that would capture God’s attention to us, we have to imitate Job.

First of all, we should be people of integrity. The word integrity according to the 21st century dictionary means ‘strict adherence to moral values and principles; uprightness.” As Christians, our life guide is the Bible. It teaches us how to live a perfect life-how to talk, how to live with people and forgive people when they offend us. We should live lives which people of the world see as blameless just like Daniel lived. The world we live in is full of corruption and unspeakable evil but as people of the Light, we should not compromise our standards and give in to the ways of the world in order to seen or noticed. Worldly rewards are perishable but heavenly rewards are eternal. Things will not be easy as people will frustrate you when you want to stand for what is right but do not give up because he that shall endure to the end, the same shall we saved (Matthew 34:13).

We should also be decent. Decent in our time, can be referred to many things in terms of speech, dressing and conduct. People nowadays wear outrageous attires all in the name of fashion but it should not be so. As Christians, we can also be fashionable but decent. Fashion in the world’s sense, means exposing a little flesh; some with the lame excuse to show off the perfect body God has given them to the world. We should be careful not to make someone fall because of our actions. Concerning our speech let our words bring warmth and restoration to people’s hearts and not hatred and resentment. Let no vulgar and offensive words be heard from us. Movies of today contain a lot of cursing and swear words which have influenced many people especially the youth but we should stand out to show that we are the people of the light.

The fear of God should dwell in our hearts. And we talk of fearing of God, it is not about being scared or terrified of Him but to revere Him and be in awe of Him; that we would be careful not to incur His wrath by robbing the poor and the helpless. We should take care of our bodies because they are the temples of God. Let’s dress well; let’s show the world one can be fashionably decent.

Finally, we should stay away from evil-anything God hates: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises evil imaginations, feet that are quick to do wrong, a false witness that speaks lies and one who sows discord among brethren (Proverbs 6:16-19). We are all just dust and we will return to dust when we die so what is there to be proud of? The fact that you’re in a better economic position does not make you any better than your fellow because you do not know what would happen tomorrow-you can never tell someone’s future. So don’t be proud; because pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16: 18).

One thing we should know is that, we cannot do these things by our own strength. We need the grace of God and the help of the Holy Spirit. We should constantly ask for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to aid us in this corrupt world.

Another thing I would want to share with you is that, as Christians, we should not be alarmed when we constantly find ourselves among bad, wicked and heartless people. This is because as people of the Light, we shine the brightest in the dark. Always remember that wherever you find yourself, God put you there to touch a life. Continue shining and leave it to God to draw the dark souls into the Light.

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