Do You Act Like A Christian?
Writer Author Sylvia Huffnagle
Christian Article
:
Christianity
- Fiction No
Do You Act Like a Christian?
This article is not about what most Christians would think by reading the title. I’m not addressing being nice to others. I’m talking about some other very important Christian activities.
A man asked, “Why doesn’t my wife believe that I’m a Christian? I mean, she doesn’t treat me as if she believes I’m a godly man.”
I say, “I don’t know. Let’s try to get to the bottom of this. First, what kind of company do you keep?”
Well..., I like to chat with the neighbors, but none of them are living for the Lord. And it’s true that most of my hunting buddies are ungodly. The phone calls I get are from worldly people and we usually have quite a lot to talk about, but she should see that I’m not like them.”
I ask him, “Why?”
“Because I’m a really nice guy, anybody will tell you that.”
“Yeah, but she may be remembering what the Bible says about the company we keep. For instance, Ps: 1 describes how a man of God will act, do you fit?”
Ps: 1:1-6: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2: But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3: And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 4: The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. 5: Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6: For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
The man appeared to be embarrassed.
Then I say, “And then there is Ps: 119:63 which tells you who you should be hanging out with. It says, “I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts.”
And there’s Prov: 13:20: He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
And Proverbs 28:7: Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son: but he that is a companion of riotous men shameth his father.
How about 1Cor: 5:9-11: I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: 10: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 11: But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
Jesus said, ‘You shall know them by their fruits.’
And Prov: 20:11 says, Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.”
What do you watch on TV, etc.?”
“Well, I don’t watch the bad stuff. I watch sports, commercials, old movies, some other clean shows.
“Well, the scriptures say, Prov: 4:23: 3: Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life
Ezek: 14:1 teaches about what we feast our eyes on: Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. 2: And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 3: Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
And then there’s Rom: 13:14: But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
Gal: 6:7: Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8: For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9: And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Eph: 5:11: And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
Does she see you pursuing God?”
“No. I’m a private person.”
“Does she see you praying?”
“No. Same reason--I’m a private person.”
“You don’t pray together?”
“No. She did suggest it once, but I wasn’t comfortable with it.”
“When you talk, does your talk tell her that you are concerned about pleasing God?”
“Probably not. What does a person say about that?”
“Does her talk give you the idea that she wants to please God and do right?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s what a person who is godly sounds like. What does she see and hear that should convince her of your devotion to God and godly things?”
“Well, I don’t take the Lord’s name in vain. And I don’t go drinking or running around with women. I help the neighbors and treat people good.”
“Well, all that is good, but it does not tell your wife that you belong to God, therefore, don’t fault her for wondering how saved you are when you don’t heed the word of God which can save your soul.
Jas: 1:21-27: Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. 22: But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23: For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25: But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. 26: If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. 27: Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
The world is a snare, Mr. And the Bible teaches us to protect ourselves from all its subtleties by putting on the full armor of God. One of those pieces of armor is to have your lions--vulnerable parts--girt about with the truth. God’s word is truth. It’s the truth that will protect you from the wisdom of the world. 1Cor: 3:19: For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.
Prov: 1:20-33 has this to say about God’s wisdom: Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: 21: She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, 22: How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? 23: Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. 24: Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; 25: But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: 26: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; 27: When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. 28: Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: 29: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: 30: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. 31: Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. 32: For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. 33: But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.”
“How did we get on wisdom? I was talking about my wife trusting me to be a godly man.”
“My guess is that she sees your enjoyment of worldly activities and people, but she does not see your involvement with God and she is unsure of your relationship with Him.”
© Sylvia Huffnagle
Editor's Comment:
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