The Apostle Paul was one tough brother. I mean really tough. I was reading about him in the book of Acts today and I was reminded about how hard core Paul was when it came to his beliefs. Even when he was wrong, he was strong, sparing nothing and no one when it came to what he thought was necessary to honor God.
Before his conversion, he strictly followed the laws of his Jewish ancestors, which led him to believe he was honestly and legitimately doing the right thing in persecuting Christians. Paul was raised to believe, as many Jews are today, that Jesus' claims were blasphemous and dishonoring to God. He therefore set out to silence those who were spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Until of course, he had a divine encounter on the Damascus road.
Once Paul experienced a supernatural encounter with Jesus Christ, he didn't run and hide from those he used to hang with. He didn't even run and hide from those he used to persecute. He boldly went to both groups, put all of his pride aside and told his story to all who would listen.
Paul was strong enough and confident enough in the truth that had been revealed to him that he readily admitted his mistakes in persecuting Christians. He made no defense of his actions to explain them away as some of us might do. There was no shame in his game when he was killing followers of the "Way" of Jesus Christ, so there was no shame in his game when he went around proclaiming Jesus' words of life.
The very man who had put both men and women into prison, beating them and snatching some right out of the synagogues would himself be beaten and imprisoned for the same thing--perhaps even by some of the same jailers he used to work with!
That's hard!
Sometimes, we forget that being a Christian is about more than showing love to everyone. Certainly, as an old song says, "...they'll know we are Christians by our love." But, they must also know we are Christians by our strength.
They will know we are Christians by our strength of character.
They will know we are Christians by our strength of convictions.
They will know we are Christians by our strength of commitment.
They will know we are Christians by our strength of consistency.
They will know we are Christians by our strength of courage.
If we are too embarrassed for our old friends or colleagues to know we are Christians saved by grace through faith, we need to get it together and go hard or go home.
If we are unwilling to sometimes be uncomfortable when it comes to dealing with matters of faith, we need to break out of our comfort zones and go hard or go home.
If we are unable to admit that we've made mistakes--sometimes even in the name of the Lord--we need to put our egos and check and go hard or go home.
Brothers and Sisters, our walk and our witnesses can give Christianity a good name or a bad one. Jesus was willing to go to the cross for us. He proved how far He was willing to go for our sake. How hard are we willing to go for Him?
BNcouraged!
Rev. Karen
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