Being Respected by Unbelievers
God calls all of us, as Christians, to be different from the people who do not know the Lord. The way we live should lead them to respect us. The Holy Spirit will be able to touch their hearts and show them that what we are doing is right and good. They should also see the power of God in our lives, and that should lead them to respect us. Unfortunately, this is not the case most of the time today. We need to make this a priority in our lives. We should seek to stick out from the crowd, not melt into it. That is what happened to Moses and the people of Israel when God was sending the plagues on the Egyptians. (Exodus 11:3) The Lord caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the people of Israel. Moses was considered a very great man in the land of Egypt, respected by Pharaoh's officials and the Egyptian people alike. That is amazing, but it happened. It is possible for it to happen today, if we will do the same things they did back them.
The entire people of Israel in Egypt were trusting in the Lord and Moses, His servant, to bring them out of slavery. God had promised to deliver them, and they were holding to that promise. As Christians, we know God has promised to take us to heaven. We do not need to fear other people, but we need to be faithful to do what God says in His Word. Then, others will see that God is blessing us and giving us special power to do His will. Our Christian leaders must live and love like Jesus, so everyone around them will be led by God to respect them, even when they are not believers yet. All Christians must be consistent in what we say and what we do by the power of the Holy Spirit. We must not give up, just like Moses did not give up when Pharaoh kept changing his mind. God's Word is clear, and as we live it out, people will see our convictions and respect us even when they disagree with us. I wonder how many of us see that happening in our lives today? Let's make that our aim every day to live and love like Jesus for all to see.
#NHBaptistdotorg
Tomorrow, I intend to read Genesis 12-15.