"Who Do You Say I Am?"
witness
(verb):
to have knowledge of (an event or change) from personal observation or experience;
to give or serve as evidence of; testify to
"People don't want to know Christ because of the people who say they're Christians!" I've heard this, cringed at it, agreed with it, laughed inwardly that (some of) the people who were saying it probably turned some people away from the idea of Christ at one time or another as well.
Sometimes we don't live out our faith well. There are ups and downs. We struggle, then we thrive, then we struggle again. We mis-represent Christ.
If you look at my life, sometimes I mis-represent Christ. How, you ask?
When I believe that I am less than he said I am.
When I live as though Christ is something less than what he said he is.
When, in short, my life witnesses against Christ rather than for him.
When we ourselves have exchanged the truth for lies, we cannot witness to truth.
The truth is that Christ has come to earth to save us. He died for our sins and rose again on the third day to buy our freedom and make us his own. When we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. He has cleaned our hearts, and sanctifies us to be more like himself. Even more, Christ has promised life and life abundantly. He has promised that although we will face trials, he will provide everything that we need.
Christ has called us to witness to these truths, but we don't always live that out.
Instead, we sometimes live as though we are still condemned. As though we are "less than," as though we are not good enough, as though we are rejected. We let our emotions dictate what we believe, and we get caught up in what we perceive to be our own failures and shortcomings.
Other times we look at all of the troubles around us, and we listen to all of the fears that whisper in our ears and scream in our chests, and we doubt. We doubt that a good God could let bad happen, and we doubt that we can trust the God who we do not always understand. We let our faith slip away and cold, slippery disbelief begins to slide in and chill our lives.
When we live in this way, we ignore what Christ has done for us.
Instead of testifying to the goodness of God, we instead are saying that he is a liar.
When we live in these doubts and defeats, we are saying "we have witnessed nothing of God! we don't know him! we don't believe what he has said! we have seen nothing of his truth!'
When we live as orphans, we are testifying that God is not our father.
When we live in fear, we are testifying that God is not our protector.
When we live in defeat, we are testifying that God has no victory.
When we live as sinners, we are testifying that God has not won salvation.
When we live in grief, we are testifying that God is not peace.
When we live in desperation, we are testifying that God is not the provider.
When we live in hopelessness, we are testifying that God is not the resurrection and the life.
How we live and who we choose to be reflects who we believe that God is. We are called to testify to the truth of who God is, but so many of us have let the world slip in and steal our faith, our victory - our very witness.
I love that God has called us to be witnesses. To witness simply means to serve as evidence to something, and to have knowledge of something. God just wants us to have knowledge of who he is. He wants our lives to be evidence of who he is. He doesn't want us to strive and struggle, he just wants us to know and to show.
We will all fall short at times. But I for one don't want to have the truth in my hands and let it slip through my fingers. I don't want to live a life that shows people that God is not good, not worthy, not worth knowing. I want to be free in the truth. I want to live as all that I can because of all that Christ is. It is not always easy, and I am thankful for grace. But each day we have to stand up and choose whether we are going to believe and testify for Christ, or doubt and testify against him.
Will you join me? In deciding to witness to the truth? In testifying to the wonders that Christ has done? In showing the world who he is, and how great and wide and deep his love is?
Will you choose with me to witness to the truth instead of living a life that testifies to lies?
(verb):
to have knowledge of (an event or change) from personal observation or experience;
to give or serve as evidence of; testify to
"People don't want to know Christ because of the people who say they're Christians!" I've heard this, cringed at it, agreed with it, laughed inwardly that (some of) the people who were saying it probably turned some people away from the idea of Christ at one time or another as well.
Sometimes we don't live out our faith well. There are ups and downs. We struggle, then we thrive, then we struggle again. We mis-represent Christ.
If you look at my life, sometimes I mis-represent Christ. How, you ask?
When I believe that I am less than he said I am.
When I live as though Christ is something less than what he said he is.
When, in short, my life witnesses against Christ rather than for him.
Our lives are meant to testify and witness to the truth and glory of who Christ is. With everything that we are and all that we do, the light of Christ should rise up in us and through us and shine forth his love. With every word that we speak, the truth that we know about God should roll from our lips and fill up empty ears with truth that sets the soul on fire. We should be confident sons and daughters of the Most High, declaring his love and goodness with every bit of our peace and laughter. But when we ourselves are empty of Christ, we have nothing of Christ to give out."...but you will receive powerwhen the Holy Spirit has come upon you;and you shall be My witnessesboth in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,and even to the remotest part of the earth." (Acts 1:8)
When we ourselves have exchanged the truth for lies, we cannot witness to truth.
The truth is that Christ has come to earth to save us. He died for our sins and rose again on the third day to buy our freedom and make us his own. When we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. He has cleaned our hearts, and sanctifies us to be more like himself. Even more, Christ has promised life and life abundantly. He has promised that although we will face trials, he will provide everything that we need.
Christ has called us to witness to these truths, but we don't always live that out.
Instead, we sometimes live as though we are still condemned. As though we are "less than," as though we are not good enough, as though we are rejected. We let our emotions dictate what we believe, and we get caught up in what we perceive to be our own failures and shortcomings.
Other times we look at all of the troubles around us, and we listen to all of the fears that whisper in our ears and scream in our chests, and we doubt. We doubt that a good God could let bad happen, and we doubt that we can trust the God who we do not always understand. We let our faith slip away and cold, slippery disbelief begins to slide in and chill our lives.
When we live in this way, we ignore what Christ has done for us.
Instead of testifying to the goodness of God, we instead are saying that he is a liar.
When we live in these doubts and defeats, we are saying "we have witnessed nothing of God! we don't know him! we don't believe what he has said! we have seen nothing of his truth!'
When we live as orphans, we are testifying that God is not our father.
When we live in fear, we are testifying that God is not our protector.
When we live in defeat, we are testifying that God has no victory.
When we live as sinners, we are testifying that God has not won salvation.
When we live in grief, we are testifying that God is not peace.
When we live in desperation, we are testifying that God is not the provider.
When we live in hopelessness, we are testifying that God is not the resurrection and the life.
How we live and who we choose to be reflects who we believe that God is. We are called to testify to the truth of who God is, but so many of us have let the world slip in and steal our faith, our victory - our very witness.
I love that God has called us to be witnesses. To witness simply means to serve as evidence to something, and to have knowledge of something. God just wants us to have knowledge of who he is. He wants our lives to be evidence of who he is. He doesn't want us to strive and struggle, he just wants us to know and to show.
We will all fall short at times. But I for one don't want to have the truth in my hands and let it slip through my fingers. I don't want to live a life that shows people that God is not good, not worthy, not worth knowing. I want to be free in the truth. I want to live as all that I can because of all that Christ is. It is not always easy, and I am thankful for grace. But each day we have to stand up and choose whether we are going to believe and testify for Christ, or doubt and testify against him.
Will you join me? In deciding to witness to the truth? In testifying to the wonders that Christ has done? In showing the world who he is, and how great and wide and deep his love is?
Will you choose with me to witness to the truth instead of living a life that testifies to lies?
"When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
(Matthew 16:13-16)
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