Lately, I have noticed many ads on social media dealing with shirts and jewelry that either has part of a scripture or a scripture reference, as well as faith-based symbols, turned into jewelry. Because of this, we tend to believe that they are followers of Jesus Christ, but is that what their actions say?
I know firsthand that just because you choose to wear a tee-shirt or a piece of jewelry that states what you believe doesn't mean you are walking it. I wore a cross around my neck and confessed to being a Christian, yet I didn’t show it at all. I was involved with a guy who was engaged. I swore regularly and was under 21 and drinking. My actions alone stated that while I believed in God, I wasn’t living in and for Him. For the longest time, I didn’t see anything wrong with that. My attitude was that God loves me for who I am, sins and all.
My attitude about this belief changed when I went through a challenging situation with the guy I was involved with. It was then that I realized that I wasn’t living right and that although he took advantage of me at a very vulnerable time, my actions of how I was living showed him that I wouldn’t protest the relationship under those circumstances. I am sad to say he was right. I realized that night that my Christian beliefs were wrapped around my neck in the cross that I wore. It wasn’t in the way I lived my life. I took the cross off that night because I realized that if I couldn’t represent Jesus through my actions, I was doing Him an injustice in representing Him with the necklace.
I slowly started changing, actually caring that my actions lined up with the truth that I was a child of the Living God. I wanted to make sure that if I am going to say that I am a believer of Jesus Christ walking in the Word of the Lord, I am doing precisely that. (2 Corinthians 5:20).
I am so thankful that we are saved by grace, the grace of Jesus Christ dying for our sins. But we aren’t supposed to live by grace alone; we are to grow closer to God. If we truly believe that God is the one, we will only want to live as Christ did. We are to become more like Christ. Jesus was different than anyone else, and yes, He spent time with sinners, but He didn’t act like them.
The Bible says that they will know we are Christians by our love and actions (Titus 1:16, 1 John 2:3-6) That we are not to act as the world does. We are not supposed to care how the world views us, only how God does. We are a walking testimony for Jesus Christ, for if we say that we are believers but don’t act like it, what kind of testimony are we relaying? (Romans 8:14)
So, I ask you again are you wearing your faith or living it out?
