Will They Know?

School has begun. You might be starting college, high school, or middle school. You will be meeting new people and making new friends. Will they know you are a Christian? Will they know by your example, by the words you speak, and by your character?

According to Dictionary.com, character is “the sum of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person…” Examples of these traits are “moral or ethical quality, honesty, courage, integrity, favorable reputation, a good name and respect from others.”

Those qualities sound exactly like how God wants us to be and to live, as in Titus 2:7-8: “In all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.”

Doesn’t that sound like moral or ethical quality, honesty, courage, integrity, good reputation, a good name, and respect from others? Girls, if you behave in such a way that no one can say anything bad about you, the person who might tell a lie about you can only be “put to shame,” as God tells us. Because you are living the life God commands you to live, they will know that you did not deserve the unkindness they spoke of you.

Sometimes it is difficult to be the only person, or one of the few, who won’t go along with your friends’ wrongdoings. First Peter 4:16 says, “Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this manner.” Have you considered that others might feel as you do, but just don’t have the courage that you have to stand up for what is right? Perhaps they need you to lead the way.

I’m not talking about being “weird” with your convictions. You don’t need to shout “Praise the Lord!” or “beat people over the head,” so to speak, with your beliefs. But you can share God by your example and having the character traits that God would be proud of. Matthew 6:5 says, “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. . . .” They were praying to be noticed, yet they were not living as God told them to live. They were hypocritical. They wanted people to think they were living righteously, when indeed the only thing that made people think they were godly, is that they were praying so loudly that people noticed them. On the outside, the hypocrites looked like “perfect Christians” but in the inside, their hearts were prideful and sinful. Their private lives were not godly at all.

We are to be the “light of the world,” as God tell us in Matthew 5:14: “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.” We will accomplish that by having the character within us that God desires. Colossians 3:12–17 says, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts. . . .”

To love like God loves and to let His peace rule in our hearts means that God must be on our minds constantly. He can’t be there only part of the time, because that is when we become spiritually weak, and Satan is ready and waiting to fill up the empty space in our hearts and lives where God should be. We should instead choose to allow the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts so there is no room for Satan’s temptation. James 4:7 says, “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

We begin to sin more when we stop meditating on God regularly. Have you ever noticed that it is hard to pray when you are intentionally sinning? God and sin cannot live in the same place. We are usually ashamed or embarrassed to approach God when we know we are sinning. Doesn’t Satan make sin so appealing that we don’t always want to stop the sin?

When our hearts are fully repentant of our wrongdoing, then we can humbly bow before our Father in Heaven with a sincere and remorseful heart. Keep God close to your heart and let Him be constantly alive within you so that there is no room for Satan to dwell there!

Pray to God when you are weak. If you have a good friend whom you trust, confess your weakness to her and ask her to pray with you. Galations 6:2 says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” There is power in prayer. Find friends who want you to be in Heaven someday, instead of friends who will tempt you to sin.

Be an example to others so that by your character you can help lead them to Christ. We will be held accountable someday for everything we do and say, according to Matthew 16:27, “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds” (emphasis added). So strive diligently to be an example of good deeds and to be pure in doctrine. Let whatever you say be beyond reproach so that no one can say anything bad about you. Live your life so there is no doubt about who, and whose, you are, and they will know.

Let us pray:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Please help me to have the strength and the courage to stand up for You and for what is right. Please forgive me when I sin. Help me to always fill my heart and life with You, Lord, so that there’s no room for Satan to enter my life. Help me to live my life so that others know I am a Christian. Help me to be the example You want me to be. Thank You for Jesus and for Your love and forgiveness.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

By: Carol Gartman

Comments

  1. I want people to know I’m a Christian by my actions! This a very convicting article, and I know that I certainly need to be convicted.

    I hope that one day I will be wise enough to write an article for this column!

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