Representing God With Our Outlook (REPRESENTATIVES part four)

Hello, and welcome to the final part of this blog series, REPRESENTATIVES! I’ve enjoyed going over different ways that we, as followers of Jesus, can—and should— represent the character of God to those around us. 

The first post was about representing God with our words. The second was about representing God with our love (one of my personal favorites!). And the one from last week was about representing God with our humility. 

Today, I’m talking about representing God with our outlook. 

Attitude. 

Perspective. 

Mindset.  

This is the lens through which we view what happens in day to day life. It can be so easy to respond in a number of different ways to the many things that happen to us every day. Panic, anxiety, stress, anger. And then there’s joy, excitement, and satisfaction, just to name a few. 

But here’s the thing: people are watching to see how we’ll respond to what happens to us. In Matthew 5:14, Jesus says that we are the light of the world. 

Notice that He doesn’t say we can be the light of the world if we’re feeling like it. We are the light of the world, a city set on a hill that can’t be hidden, regardless of whether or not we want to. 

The moment we call ourselves Jesus-followers, all eyes are on us. So many people who have rejected Christ do so because of hypocritical people who claim the title “Christian”.  

We have quite the responsibility to let the unsaved world know who God is like— and one way we do that is through our outlook. 

Outlook is the attitude we have about life in general. How we see the bigger picture and how we act + live because of it. 

Are our lives different? Do we bear fruit (John 15:4)? 

There’s an issue that many unbelievers are turned away by: so many people who say they’re Christians live like everybody else and it seems that this “God” they talk about does nothing for them. 

But what would the body of Christ look like if we all decided together that we’d believe the word of God and apply it? 

Let me explain what I mean. There are hundreds of promises in the Bible that God has made to His people, yet so many of His children live as though they don’t exist. 

God promises to provide for all of our needs (Philippians 4:19)— but that does us little good if we run around worrying over finances. 

Our Heavenly Father tells us that He is our protector and that He doesn’t give us a spirit of fear (Psalm 32:7, 2 Timothy 1:7). So why do we call ourselves “anxious” and act like there’s no hope for us?

The Lord tells us that His joy is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10)— which means that regardless of what we’ve gone through, we have no excuses to stay depressed. I understand that sad, difficult things happen— I think I’d have more of an excuse than many if I wanted to stay depressed. And do you know what? Sometimes I do want to wallow in sadness and frustration. 

But God has better than that for me. Better than that for you, my friend. He has set us apart (1 Peter 2:9) in so many ways, and He wants us to walk in all of His victory. God heals broken hearts and restores lives + relationships, and He wants to do that for you.

You see, people don’t want Jesus when they think the only thing He’ll do for them is give them rules. So many people— even Christians— don’t know the true character of God. 

They don’t know His promises to those who follow Him. 

God desires to fulfill His promises to you, but you have to do your part and receive them. If you don’t want them, He won’t force anything on you! The same way that Salvation is a choice, so are the rest of the things God offers— peace, joy, provision, protection, and so much more. 

I urge you today, friend, to search the scriptures for what God is offering to you. When we think + live out what we tell to others, that’s a testimony to them of the transformative work of Jesus. 

If I wanted, I could live miserably, never stepping into what God has for me simply because I used every excuse I could. And trust me when I say that I could have excuses if I wanted. 

But I don’t want to. 

I’ve experienced God’s love and power in ways that have literally transformed my life, and there’s no going back for me. I’ve seen hopeless situations become full of hope. I’ve seen the lost get found. 

I’ve seen God come in and radically change lives. 

There’s no going back for me. 

As I conclude this blog series, I want to remind you of one key truth. This will be the foundation for how you represent God to those around you. This will be the reason why you want to represent God to those around you: He loves you. 

You will never be able to show to others how loved they are by God if you don’t know how loved you are. 

You are adored by your Maker. Valued by your Savior. Constantly pursued by the One who loves you more than anyone else could possibly even imagine.  

Representing God isn’t a chore. It’s a privilege. Will you do this with me? Embark on a journey of demonstrating to others the life-changing power of God’s love? 

I can’t decide for you. I can only choose for myself. 

I chose to be a representative of God.