Faithful Fridays ~ Always Be Ready.

Hi, everyone!  :)  It's time for Faithful Friday!

Faithful Fridays is a weekly linky party hosted on my blog.  I made it so that Christians could have one special day out of the week (Friday) to share something from their Christian walk on their blog.  If you'd like to participate, write your post, grab the button from the Faithful Fridays page on my blog (so that it will link back here), and come link up at the bottom of this post!  :)

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Lately I've realized how important it is to always remember that as Christians, people are watching us.  

They're watching to see whether we're different from other people as we claim to be.  They're watching to see if we're joyful, if we really have that hope we're always talking about.  They're watching to see if we walk what we talk, if we practice what we preach.  They're watching to see if we're really doing everything for the Lord like we say we do.

"And whatever you do, whatever in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

-Colossians 3:17

Someone recently told me that they loved how I was so happy and optimistic on something I had written on the internet.

And that got me to thinking.  What if we all were unusually joyful?  What if we actually showed happiness for the hope God has given us of eternal life with Him?  Would people start to wonder if what we had really was that great?  Would they ask about it?  Would they dig into the Bible for themselves to investigate?

"But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord.  Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that you have.  But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander."

-1 Peter 3:15-16

Your lifestyle and your attitude reflect what's in your heart.  If you're grumpy, irritable, cynical, rudely sarcastic, or just plain blue, people aren't going to be impressed with the message of Jesus that we're proclaiming.  

But if we show that we're joyful about this life that we have in Christ, if we truly live out a life of following Jesus, people will start to wonder and ask questions, and that's how we become walking witnesses of Christ.

In the same way, I feel like we need to distinguish ourselves.  We say that we obey the Bible, and the Bible says:

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will."

-Romans 12:2

We claim to be doing this, but are we acting differently?  Are we doing different things, saying different words, listening to different music, watching different movies?  I'm not saying that we have to reject everything that the majority of the world likes, but let's be honest--most of what's popular in the world is not moral.  

When other people see us Christians going to church and claiming to be set apart, then leaving and being just like them throughout the week, we turn them off to God's word.  

So be careful of how you act and what you do, because the world is watching.  We are representatives of the message of Jesus--let's act like it!

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God bless you guys and have a great day!  :)

Joy :)