Faith is a very personal thing. What one person grabs onto to strengthen her spiritual hold on Christ might have little impact for someone else. Even the great apostle Paul tells us we are to work out our own salvation, that there is no rigid way to walk after Christ, and that we are not to argue the small details of our Christian beliefs.
Even so, proving ourselves through righteous judgment is part of earning the respect of others who might wish to also follow in the footsteps of Christ.
Lydia was a seller of purple in the city of Thyatira. She was prosperous and worshipped God even before she received the true revelation of Christ. She was a Christian in essence even before she became one in fact.
Lydia knew her beliefs, her morals, and her faith would be judged by others. She would be held to a standard, one that proved she was the follower of God she claimed to be.
Acts 16:15 tells us:
“And when [Lydia] was baptized, and her household, she besought [Paul], saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there.”
Lydia didn’t doubt her faith or her deeds in living out her faith. Even without a witness of the Christ, she had dedicated herself to a godly life. Yet she knew that how others saw her would affect their opinion of the God she sought to serve.
Have we forgotten that as we try to ram Christ down the world’s throat? We can’t beat Christ into others, no matter how strong our faith. We must live out our Christianity with a pure heart and kindness in our actions, or our faith will be judged accordingly, and we will drive people away from Christ, rather than draw them in.
Like Lydia, let’s ask ourselves, would others judge us to be faithful to the Lord? If not, then what can we do to change the way the world views us?
The world will judge us, and it’s important for them to see that we measure up to the Christ we claim to serve.
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Code: FGO.E.03.16d.vp.kjv