Difference Maker

I am a Christian, a Christ Follower. That means I try to live a life by the standards Jesus taught. If asked, I absolutely will not deny it. However, I try to make a conscious effort to not go around shouting it to everyone I meet, saying 'Look at me, I'm a Christian.' I want people to know it by the way I treat them, not because I told them. There are many who say it but have no evidence to back it up.

Unfortunately, in the society we live in, being a Christian is not exactly noble these days. Non-Christians see us as judgemental hypocrites. Part of that, I think, is because the standards laid out in the Bible don't usually line up with the standards of society. And many Christians, in my opinion, forget the message Jesus brought to us and are more concerned with how others see them than they are with doing what's right.

I am by no means perfect. I fail every single day. I make mistakes and sometimes when you see me, I may not look like Jesus. You may see me with a bad attitude or you may hear me say ugly things. You may even see me in places that a "Christian" should not be. I don't read the Word every day. And "Gasp!" I'm not in church everytime the doors are opened!

What makes me a Christian, a Christ Follower, is that I have accepted the truth of God's never-ending grace. God, the Creator of the Universe, cannot tolerate sin. He's just that Awesome. So we sinners can't spend eternity with God. Following me so far? Well, in His infinite LOVE for us, He made a way for us to have opportunity to make eternity with Him possible. He presented His PERFECT Son as the sacrifice to take on all of the world's sins. Yeah, He GAVE His ONLY Son for us!
So all I have to do to become a Christian, a Christ Follower, is accept that truth. That's it! God loves me. Period. I've called on His name and now I'm saved from an eternity separated from Him. I don't have to do anything else for Him to love me. THAT'S the beauty of grace. I didn't earn it. He just offered it up and I grabbed a hold of it.

Now, for the whole reason I even began writing this in the first place. The message of the Cross, everything the Bible points us to, is LOVE. God loves us. All of us. The ones who believe in Him and the ones who don't. The ones who TRY to live His standards and the ones who don't. As a matter of fact, the people Jesus spent most of His time with were the sinners, the outcasts, the unloveable.

So tell me, Christian, Christ Follower, are you loving like Jesus loves? Are you encouraging those who need encouragement? Are you accepting those who need acceptance? Or maybe you're the one judging? Assuming you know someone's heart or intentions? My prayer is that we can see people the way Jesus sees them. And that rather than boast about what we do, we boast about what He has done for us and what He can do for those who don't know yet.

In the end, just love!

He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (1 John 4:8)

Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:8)

And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8)

Let all that you do be done with love. (1 Corinthians 16:14)