Leading Through Your Life

Ephesians 4:1-4 (NLT) Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.

Lead a life worthy of your calling - live in humility and be gentle and patient with others. Show mercy when others faults are revealed just as you would like mercy granted to you when mistakes you've made become known. These are always character traits that we have to work on daily, they don't come natural to us because in the natural we are selfish and look at things at face value and not at the intentions. God knows the heart of man and when we try to fool ourselves and others with a "holier than thou attitude," it only makes things worse for everyone.

Proverbs 21:2 (NLT) People may be right in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their heart.

1 Samuel 16:7 (NLT) But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

The way we live our lives should lead others to follow Christ in the same manner. That is a big responsibility. We cannot live in such a way that causes others to sin or misrepresent Jesus. Of course we will make mistakes but the true character of our heart will be shown when others see how we handle our mistakes. Do we apologize? Do we repent before God? Do we correct our behavior moving forward? Or do we make excuses and point blame on why it happened? We have to take responsibility for how we act and when we are behaving well, it's because of God in us and we are obeying the Spirit. Are we giving God the glory for our lives or do we say "look what I've done!"? People are always watching us to see if we really believe what we preach and do we live in a way that truly honors God.

Preach the gospel, and live it! Our lives should reflect the life of Jesus: giving, teaching, preaching, praying, fasting, laying hands on the sick, discipling, spending time with those in need. As we study the life of Jesus, we will learn there is a lot more to the Christian life than just attending a church service once a week. Today I want to challenge you to ask yourself, "what I am doing today to reflect the life of Jesus?"

Hebrews 13:7 (NLT) Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith.