12-10-2016, 06:34 PM
2 Corinthians 3:2-3 (NKJV) You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men;
clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.
I have noticed that people who are not born again or Christians, have a tendency to look (watch) at those that say they are born again. And amazingly they have a standard that they have, in terms of how a born again person is supposed to behave. People out there are hungry to see in you the Jesus you always preach. It always gets to me that most born again people don't even come close to this standard. They tend to be arrogant, liars, hateful, filled with anger, spiteful and selfish among others, and prove to be very difficult to live with. In the process, this behaviour tends to alienate those people that could be led to Christ. These people end up saying, if Christians are like this, leave me alone I'd rather die a heathen. The verse above says we are an epistle known and read by men, in fact we are an epistle of Christ, the story of Christ is written in us. This means when people look at our lives, they want to see Christ. Our preaching does not start with us opening the bible and saying big words, but by our very conduct, which "is read by all". I am very much heartbroken whenever I hear stories of how so-called born again Christians have done incredibly horrible things to others, and turn around and want to preach to them. I always say that as a child of God, you should not have to go around telling people that you are born again, they are capable of picking that up from the way you conduct yourself, so if you find yourself having to convince people that you are born again, there's something wrong with your way of life. Even if people don't pick up that you are born again, they tend to have a "feeling" that there's something about you that they find different. So I'd like to implore everyone to always strive to live a life worthy to be associated with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Some people will come to your God just from seeing how you are. In the book of Acts 11:25, it says the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. The people of Antioch called them Christians because they must have seen the Christ like character in them.
clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.
I have noticed that people who are not born again or Christians, have a tendency to look (watch) at those that say they are born again. And amazingly they have a standard that they have, in terms of how a born again person is supposed to behave. People out there are hungry to see in you the Jesus you always preach. It always gets to me that most born again people don't even come close to this standard. They tend to be arrogant, liars, hateful, filled with anger, spiteful and selfish among others, and prove to be very difficult to live with. In the process, this behaviour tends to alienate those people that could be led to Christ. These people end up saying, if Christians are like this, leave me alone I'd rather die a heathen. The verse above says we are an epistle known and read by men, in fact we are an epistle of Christ, the story of Christ is written in us. This means when people look at our lives, they want to see Christ. Our preaching does not start with us opening the bible and saying big words, but by our very conduct, which "is read by all". I am very much heartbroken whenever I hear stories of how so-called born again Christians have done incredibly horrible things to others, and turn around and want to preach to them. I always say that as a child of God, you should not have to go around telling people that you are born again, they are capable of picking that up from the way you conduct yourself, so if you find yourself having to convince people that you are born again, there's something wrong with your way of life. Even if people don't pick up that you are born again, they tend to have a "feeling" that there's something about you that they find different. So I'd like to implore everyone to always strive to live a life worthy to be associated with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Some people will come to your God just from seeing how you are. In the book of Acts 11:25, it says the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. The people of Antioch called them Christians because they must have seen the Christ like character in them.
