As Christians we should always want to bring others to Christ. We do this through being kind, inviting others to church, giving, sharing God's word. It is important for us to realize that God's opinions about us are the most important and we should live to please Him, but what others think about us can help or hinder us from showing them God's love.
Matthew 5:16
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
How We Act
We all know how we SHOULD act, but we don't always act the way we should. We should be kind, generous, slow to anger, respectful even when someone may not deserve our respect, hardworking, God's ministers and lights. When we act just like everyone else, when we act like the nonbelievers, we are showing them that we don't need God, we don't need Christ. Which is the farthest thing from the truth. If we were to ask someone we've been wanting saved for a long time and their response is "Why do I need God? You act worse than I do." We have a serious problem of our own. Our actions have devestating affects on everyone, not just ourselves. Everything created has a seed from which it propagates itself after its "kind".
Genesis 1:11 KJV
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
How We Talk
When you go to the store and you hear the person beside you cursing like a sailor do you immediately associate him with being Christian? Profanity can also go with being ill-tempered, both sinful. The things that come out of our mouth can also greatly affect those around us. It can cause those around us to assume we are not God's children. Hateful words can cause pain, make others upset, cause seperation from friends. Cursing and spouting out unnecessary slander out of our mouths reveal our true character and heart. And the Bible has a lot to say about it.
Colossians 3:8
But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.
Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Matthew 15:10-11
And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”
James 3:10
From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
Matthew 12:36-37
I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
How We Look
Obviously we can all have our own style and self expression or we wouldn't have the free will God told us we had. We can do anything bad we want actually but that would show that we weren't really God's children. We should care if we are doing right, if we are pleasing God, if we are following in Jesus' footsteps, if we are being wise and growing in the Lord. We should WANT to listen to God.
Saying this, girls and guys both read--- GIRLS: Dress modestly. If you dress in a revealing manner you are only hurting yourself. You are attracting the wrong kind of boys. BOYS: A respectful and good Christian boy will not want the immodestly dressed girl by his side. GIRLS: Respect yourself and others will respect you. Trust me, I had to learn this on my own instead of taking the advice I was given a couple of years ago. When you stop trying to chase the boys who only want that "one thing" you will no longer feel the need to attract them through your clothing or appearances. I don't want to give guidelines to what exactly modesty is, but I will however say: If it does not cover your chest, rear, or any place in the middle you should probably put on something else. Modesty can also refer to our attitudes. Seductive ways will not please God, nor the righteous man we should seek.
1 Timothy 2:9-10
Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness.
Isaiah 3:16-24
The Lord says,
“The women of Zion are haughty,
walking along with outstretched necks,
flirting with their eyes,
strutting along with swaying hips,
with ornaments jingling on their ankles.
17 Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion;
the Lord will make their scalps bald.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
1John 2:16
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.
Matthew 5:27-28
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
1Corinthians 12:23
And on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty.
We should walk, talk, and look like Christians not because we are trying to please man, but because we are honoring our Lord and we are sincerely trying to please Him. In doing this we are behaving in the righteous manner God has called us to and we are ministering to those who watch us. Remember - we are the only Bible some people see. So try to act as Jesus would with grace, mercy, and kindness, and remember we are His and not our own.
God Bless,
Kimberly