Leah Grace In my most recent post, I talked about something that has been on my heart for a long time: what it means to show the world that we are different. I wrote part one last week, and I recommend reading that post first if you haven’t already.
The Bible says in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” It’s made pretty clear in this verse that God wants us to shine our light.
But that can be pretty hard sometimes… Thankfully, God has given us everything we need to succeed in what He has called us to do! (2 Peter 1:3)
What has He given us? The Holy Spirit! Acts 1:8 says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
And then, in Matthew 28, Jesus speaks to His disciples about something very important. At this point in the book of Matthew, Jesus had victoriously risen from the dead, and was saying what is commonly referred to as ‘The Great Commission’.
What He told His disciples to do must have sounded intimidating, to say the very least. But He left them with a promise in the last verse: “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
What we see in both passages is that Jesus gave His disciples a job to do, and then a promise: you are not alone.
In 2 Corinthians 5:20, we are told that we are ambassadors of Christ, that we represent Him. And it’s clearly shown in Acts 1:8 and Matthew 28:20 that God will empower us–through the Holy Spirit– to do and be just that!
But what does it really look like to be an ambassador of Christ? How do we let the world know that we don’t live by the rules of our enemy, Satan, but have a different ruler who is named King Jesus?
We have to choose to do what’s right, no matter what. Jesus never promised it would be easy following and representing Him, but it’s completely worth it.
God wants followers who are willing to give up everything for Him, even when it’s difficult, tiring, and seemingly unrewarding.
Matthew 10:37 says, “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” That sounds very harsh and demanding, but Jesus was setting the premise that if anyone wanted to follow Him, they had to be willing to give everything to do just that.
I can say for myself that I am willing to give up everything and follow Him. I feel like Peter when Jesus asked if he, too, would leave Him. Peter responded, “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68).
Without Jesus, I would be utterly lost. He has been there for me in my darkest times, and He is such an ever-present help to me every day. I need Jesus in my life!
The world will see that which is different, and be drawn to the light of Jesus in us. But you need to make a decision for yourself: are you willing to be different and show the world Who you represent through your actions and decisions?
