By: Rex Stump
Wauseon, Ohio
We’ve all seen it at work, school, in competition, in a store … bad behavior, poor attitudes, or just flat out being mean. We’ve seen it, but it doesn’t mean we have to conform to it!
The Apostle Paul told us in Romans not to conform to this world but instead we are to live a transformed life.
And a transformed life is how we will share the Good News of God’s love with everyone. But if we act like the world, our testimony will have no power. Look what Peter said:
Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world. I Peter 2:11-12
This is not our home; we are just visiting. We are temporary residents, foreigners, or strangers to earth. Our home is Heaven, and we are representatives of God’s Kingdom. While we are here, we won’t adopt this culture; instead, we live in a proper way, the way of God’s Kingdom.
Allow me to challenge us today to live as citizens of Heaven, while we are here on earth, and in doing so we will encourage others and show them that the God we love is real!
Be more loving, less rude. Do our actions show respect or are we rude? Jesus has all the rights in the world to come into our life, and demand or force us to love Him.
But Jesus lets us choose. Jesus Christ stands at the door of our hearts and knocks. He doesn’t barge in. Jesus didn’t interrupt people. He listened. If Jesus were visibly in our presence, He would put down His phone when hanging out with others.
We need to guard against the attitude of treating people as less, snatching that parking spot, forgetting names, interrupting, not returning calls, and failing to show up … that is rude. Focus on respect.
Focus on the positive — don’t keep record of wrongs. Negative things come to the doors of our life every day through media, music, and our screens. Complaining and high expectations barge into our life and we experience anger, bitterness, guilt, depression, and anxiety.
We can’t stop it, but we do have the choice to allow or not allow those negative things to stay in our life. Proverbs 4:23, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”
Focus on endurance — don’t give up too soon! While growing up, Jesus could have said, “Enough of this whining and complaining. I’m tired of sleeping in the open, not having a table to eat at, etc.”
But His love endured, all the way to the cross. “For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.” Ps 100:5 Never give up.
People will choose to believe or not believe in Jesus; that’s their choice. Let’s make sure we don’t stand in their way due to our lack of love.
As we are spiritually transformed daily, let our lives be a living example of the power of God’s love working in us and through us.
Let our love be evident in respecting others, in our positive attitudes (hope of Jesus), and in our enduring persistence to never give up.
“Stay strong, stay focused … stay faithful!”
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Rex Stump is the Area Director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and serves as a Pastor at True North Church in Wauseon, Ohio.