A Reflection of Jesus
“Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.”
(1 Peter 3:15-16)
It is easy to say we want to “be” a reflection of Jesus, but sometimes it can be hard to put it into action. Especially with our selfish human nature. I definitely am guilty of this. This message is not only for you, but for all those who represent Christ, myself included.
A year ago, my church handed out bumper stickers to paste on our cars so that we can represent our church! To this day, I still have the bumper sticker in my compartment… because I was afraid to “misrepresent” my church and Christ to others. Especially because I have the worst road rage ever!
These last few days I’ve been really reevaluating the way I represent Christ and observing the way others have portrayed Him. As someone who's only been in Christ for 3 years, I can say… a lot of people have misrepresented Him to me. Which has caused me to misjudge Christians as a whole based on what I’ve heard and seen from a handful of Christians I had encountered up to that point in my life. Remember how I said I haven’t put that bumper sticker on my car, because I don’t want to misrepresent Christ and my church? The more I think about it, the more I feel as if I will, maybe then I’ll be cautious of the way I’m treating others and presenting myself as a body of Christ.
We all need to be more cautious of our actions. We all need to be better at being a TRUE REFLECTION of JESUS! If someone didn’t know Jesus and heard you talking badly about another person, do you think that sounds like Jesus? If you are getting black-out drunk in a bar, cursing like a sailor, and talking poorly of others, do you think that embodies Jesus?
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
(Romans 12:2)
Think of it this way, just like on social media, companies seek out brand ambassadors from all over the world to represent/promote their product, service, or brand. These ambassadors then come up with ways they can advertise the brand to make it an appealing and trustworthy product for consumers. Depending on how it’s showcased, it can either lead others to the product or lead them away. So think of Jesus as our brand and us as His ambassadors! Ask yourself, how do you represent Him to others? How can you showcase His love, wisdom, and word to those around you? Let’s take a moment today to ask God for His strength and wisdom to grow as ambassadors of Christ!
“So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!””
(2 Corinthians 5:20)
