“Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.” (Hebrews 13:17 NLT)
Have you ever wondered why you are the way you are? If someone were to ask you: “Why are you the way you are?” Would it depend on who’s asking? Or perhaps why they are asking? What if you’ve just had a heated argument with your spouse and in their anger, they shout that question? Or perhaps a friend or neighbor asks you in casual conversation: “You’re always so kind and thoughtful. I’ve often wondered why you’re so nice.” Often context can explain better than words what the intent of a question is.
In our lives as a Jesus follower the reality is, we’re giving the people we influence a reason to move closer to the Lord or move further away. Too often our attitude seems to be: “I don’t care what people think of me. I’m going to live the way I want to live and if they don’t like it, they can lump it!”
Have you ever considered you’re the way you are for a reason? As human beings we are, to a large extent, the sum of all the experiences we’ve had, with all the people who have influenced us, coupled with all the ways we’ve responded to those experiences and circumstances. And don’t neglect the people whose words have affected you through the things they wrote or spoke.
We’re challenged by stories we hear, movies we watch, Pastors to whom we listen, social media input we view, in addition to all the conversations we have or personal relationships we enjoy or dread. Ron Hutchcraft made an interesting observation when he wrote: “I wonder how many people are living the way they are because they’ve never seen another way to live. Everyone they know is living the same way, so how could they think about another way?”
In the technological age in which we live, we tend to be more influenced by people we don’t know well than those we do. How so? Teens and young people especially tend to love to “document” every event in their lives, taking pictures that are photoshopped to make them look better than they actually are. Then some young girl sees what she can’t conceive of herself ever becoming, so, she begins to believe her life has no meaning, thus no reason for her to be alive.
John Stonestreet noted: “An article in The New York Times summarized, ‘Nearly three in five teenage girls felt persistent sadness in 2021 … and one in three girls seriously considered attempting suicide.’ Jonathan Haidt, author of The Coddling of the American Mind, painted an even starker picture: ‘We are now 11 years into the largest epidemic of adolescent mental illness ever recorded.’
It’s never been more important to love and live Jesus in our homes, churches, neighborhoods, workplaces, wherever life takes us, than it is today. Why? Because as Ron Hutchcraft wrote: “either your life is a reason to come to Jesus or a reason to reject Him.” Through our professed “righteous indignation” and condemnation of another’s lifestyle, we push them away even with the best of intentions.
Were you “condemned” into turning to Jesus? I highly doubt it. I was loved to Jesus by friends and relatives who allowed the love of Jesus to create in me a desire to be like them and learn to love the Lord they loved. We can’t just speak the right words; we have to allow the Lord to live His life out through us in such an inviting way that those in our spheres of influence can begin to understand how they can live a life with and for Jesus. The reality is, without you, they may not ever see any hope of a better way.
We must, in ever greater measure, seek to become the reason for those in our spheres of influence to come to Jesus.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 