I'll summarize what the person said with the following question: Do others recognize me as a Christian because I'm living to high standards...or are they seeing Christ in me?
Meditate on that one this week. How am I displaying Christ to my co-workers today? To my family? To anyone I meet? I can strive to live up to the holy standards of the Bible, but the lost seeing Christ in me will be the thing that changes their lives.
At this point, my logical mind asks the next logical question: What does "seeing Christ in me" really mean? Well, I've been doing a lot of writing over the past year, but instead, I'd like to hear from you on this one. Where does that hit home with you? I seek your thoughts for you, and for me, for I know I will be convicted by their truth! And I love that we can share that.
A loved one of mine responded to the question with the following:
"Hey, that's a good question! I've thought about that a lot since working full time.
I think that we will never actually see Christ in ourselves, though I think that the fruits of His Spirit are a good place to start in understanding what it means. I think that others may see Him in us, but it should surprise us if they ever pay us such a compliment. Obviously, we can't make it happen on our own either. We know what the fruits of the Spirit are (love, joy, peace, patience, etc...), but if we focus on "I'm going to be more loving" or "I'm going to work on patience today", we get well acquainted with failure. We have to pray for and rely on the Holy Spirit to change us and prompt us (we have to pray and rely on God to be the means, rather than striving for an impossible end). It is called the fruits of the Spirit anyhow, not the fruits of humans trying to be good people. In the end, I think humbling yourself before God each day (praising God with thanks and joy, directing your inner monologue towards God as fellowship with him, seeking Him in the Word) puts you in a place where God can actually work through you. In my experience, while I would still have to make an effort to be patient with annoying co-workers, or kind to a nasty person, I would look back and see that I'm still not perfect, but I'm not the person I used to be and I don't quite know how I made that progress, except that God was working on me!
I think the hardest part of it all is when you aren't seeing or feeling any change in yourself, to keep running the race, as Paul puts it, or to keep your head down and keep praying and keep reading (abiding) in the Word, etc - trusting God that His promises are true, whether you are "feeling" it or not. Chances are that that in itself is making more of a change in character in you than you know, and that someone may comment on what a change they've seen in you - which again will come as a total surprise. When God is or seems silent, He is still actively at work in us. (This is all just from personal experience!)"
I love that perspective. I'd love to hear from you, too. I invite you to share your convictions by commenting on this post. After all, "as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." (Proverbs 27:17)
-Will
I think it depends on a few things.
ReplyDeleteThe first being how much do we as Christians talk about or display Christ in our lives? Do we kind of hide it or maybe better wording is keep it private, or are we proud of it and not afraid to display it? Do we talk about Christ given the opportunity? I was raised Catholic, but it would be several years before I understood what a relationship with Christ really meant. Early in my adult life I had two friends who had (and still have) relationships with Christ. At the time I didn't understand it, but you could see something in them...something positive...but I just didn't get it. Now I understand and I can recognize that in others.
So the second aspect is how well do the people that we are around know Christ or understand what that relationship really means or can mean? Is it something they recognize right away, or is it something they might see and realize what it means later in their life?