BEING DIFFERENT

_{By Haley Kelly}

How would those around you describe your Christianity? Would they say you have a love for others that is rare and uncommon? Or would they say that you go to church every week and don’t cuss? I pray that they would say the former about you. Being a Christian is more than your church attendance and your ability to not do bad things. I’ll be honest, sometimes I need to be reminded of this.

While it is true that we need to be actively sharing the Gospel, it is also important that we share God’s love for others by our actions. 1 John 3:18 says, “Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and truth.”

I have a friend who was an atheist but then became a believer after we began to have talks about Jesus. I was able to use my words to share my faith with him and by doing so my friend accepted Christ. However, after a few months my friend moved away but we kept in touch via cellphone. A year later my friend chose to step away from his faith completely. He also decided to stop responding to my text and phone calls. I realized I had a choice to make. I could either never reach out to him again, or I could show him what Jesus really looks like. From then on I sent him one text of encouragement every Sunday. I started doing this last April. Even though he never responded I continued to text him believing God was somehow revealing His constant pursuit of my friend through this. Five months and 24 text messages later, my friend responded. He opened up to me about how rough his life had been the past few months. In that moment I knew God had been using my actions to show His love. As my friend was struggling, God was encouraging him through me. While it was words that I used to share my faith with him, it was my actions that truly showed my friend what love is.

Today I would like you to dwell and meditate on 1 John 3:18. In what ways can you use your actions to show God’s love? It can be something as simple as cleaning around your house without your parents asking you to. Or it could be paying for someone else’s meal. Try thinking of your daily schedule. Where are the places you go? Who are the people you pass? How can you show God’s love in those places to those people?

READ 1 JOHN 3:18