WHAT’S YOUR WITNESS IN TODAY’S WORLD?
“I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
Be humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit
through the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1-3)
There are times I feel I have drunk poison and my soul, my heart, my mind, and my outlook are deeply discouraged. In praying about this, I have felt led to block many people from using my feed to speak words that are so far from my heart. Most of those I have blocked are people I don’t know at all.
As we all (at least those of us living in the United States), brace ourselves for the next weeks and even months, I want to urge you to live a life worthy of your calling to be like Jesus. I long to be true to my calling to let Christ be seen in my attitudes, my words, my heart. I don’t always succeed, but that is my longing as a servant of Christ.
With my longing to encourage us to live lives worthy of our calling, and not just love those like us, let me share a story I read a long time ago:
“It was a COLD, WINDY DAY in Chicago. The time…6:00am. The place…O’Hare Airport. The mood…tired!
I was going through airport security with 300 of my “closest friends.” As I successfully walked through the scanner, I glanced to my right and one of the security guards was going through the bag of a young Arab man. For an instant, I remember thinking…I am glad they are checking that bag. I then put on my shoes, gathered my belongings, and headed down concourse B in the United terminal.
I had walked about 100 yards when I heard someone running behind me and yelling, “Sir, Sir.” I turned around to see the young Arab man with a smile on his face, as he handed me my laptop computer that I had left in the bin at security. He then said, “I thought you might need this!”
I thanked him over and over, but he said, “No problem, you would have probably done the same for me.”
For as long as I live, I will never forget that moment. We live in a complicated world where it can be easy to be afraid, and easy to be prejudiced. However, I truly feel that 99% of the people in the world, regardless of their skin color or religion, (or political persuasion) want to do the right thing and want to be kind when given the opportunity. Therefore, we must always guard against allowing the 1% to sway our thinking. You may not know this, but almost every religion, and every culture in the world, has one thing in common…they teach kindness as a virtue. They teach “their version” of the golden rule…not the exact words, but the same meaning.
The wonderful lesson that I “re-learned” that morning at the airport was this…labeling can be disabling. It was a lesson taught to me by an unexpected act of kindness…one I’ll never forget!”
May God touch our hearts as we encounter those who see things differently than we do—politically and spiritually. Make every effort, my friends, to be like Jesus in your heart, through your words, and through your behavior.
My prayers are for all of us who claim His name.
Poppy
Follow Poppy on Facebook and Instagram for more Biblical encouragement.