Day 296: Right By Who?

*Take note of all the questions asked throughout today’s devo*

Colossians 3:17

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

1 John 4:8

But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

I’m the type of person that believe there is something good in everyone. I like to see the good in everyone, I feel like everyone is good in one way or another, no one is born evil. We are born into evil but that does not mean we are evil human beings. With that being said, there’s is a difference between just being a good person, and being a person full of faith following God. Sometimes we get the two confused, just because someone is nice does not mean that their heart is with Christ. We can all be good people and do right by everyone, but are we doing right by God? That’s the question. Do we let our good deeds take the place of living like Christ, and walking in faith? I think a lot of times when we think about our good deeds we think that it’s enough to please God. We think that God just wants us to be a good person, yes He does but being a good person and being a Godly person can be two completely different things. We can all be good people, but at the end of the day a person who is made good through giving their life to Christ is different than a person who is “good” but still living a life of sin.  Don’t get me wrong God is very pleased by our good deeds, but it all comes down to our heart. Is Christ in our heart? That question gives so much meaning to who we are and why we do things.  

I remember when asked if I was living right, or living for Christ, I gave  list of all my good deeds and how I was doing right by people and how that meant I was a good person. I talked about how I fed the homeless, how I’ve bought meals for people and given them money, how I offer free service or help when someone needs it. That’s great and all but does it compare to the life I am living in Christ? Am I doing right by Christ, or am I just doing right by people and hoping that’s enough? The scripture above tells us that whatever we do we should do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, if I am not submitted to Christ and I have not given my heart to him how am I glorifying Him? I can do all the good deeds in the world but if I do not have love in my heart none of it matters. If at the end of the day I do not have Christ, was it really worth it?

Sometimes we as Christians get too caught up in what we are doing as opposed to how we are living. Meaning we are more concerned with our image as a Christian rather than being a devoted follower of Christ. This is something I had to learn as well because I was so concerned with helping people, going out and talking about Jesus, and doing good deeds, but it was only to prove my faith. It was all to show that I’m a Christian. It was really self-serving. It was to make me feel good as a person. It had nothing to do with pleasing God or helping people. Especially our generation with social media, and this constant need to show the good we do for people. It’s all self-serving. Jesus was less concerned with how many people saw what He was doing and more concerned with how many were saved. We are so concerned with how people see us that we forgot that the only opinion that really matters is the one we are ignoring. God. But when we really get to know God and when we really began to live like Christ, it becomes less about good deeds and more about being a servant of God. It becomes more about serving an everlasting God whose love is unfailing. It’s about the one who sacrificed it all for us. It becomes selfless. It is less about our earthly kingdom and more about His heavenly kingdom and eternal glory. It’s about glorifying His Kingdom and walking in love. If we do not have love we have nothing. We cannot walk in love and outside of God. God is love, so walking in love means we are walking with God. Doing right by God means loving Him first, and loving His people. Submitting our lives to Him and allowing Him to lead us every step of the way. We have to walk through life with the one who provided it. Creator cannot exist without the creator. Our lives are meant to glorify Him, and if we are not doing that are we really living, and are we really doing right by Him?

All this to say, doing right by people is not the same as doing right by God. Our good deeds are not always what it takes to live like Christ. We cannot be saved by good deeds alone, it takes faith.

Reflection

1. Take the time to answer the questions proposed today?
2. Are you doing right by God, self, or man?
3. Note that when we are doing right by God we are living exactly how we are supposed to live, therefore we are doing right by ourselves and His people.

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Ask God to search your heart and check your intentions. Take the time to listen to what He is saying to you today.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for day 297!

Day 208: True Colors

Ephesians 5:13

But everything exposed by the light becomes visible--and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.

Galatians 5:22-23

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

What are your true colors? What do they look like? I’ve always heard people say, especially when they’re angry at someone or felt betrayed, “Thank you for showing me your true colors.” Meaning you're not the person I thought you were. You’re not the person you have been pretending to be. Many times people make mistakes and it ruins how people view them. Other times people have ulterior motives that are revealed. Whatever the situation may be our true colors will always be revealed. There are a few things I’d like to point out today.

Showing our true colors is not always a bad thing. We are almost never the people others think we are at first sight. Sometimes our true personality isn’t revealed until someone really gets to know us. We all have an ‘idea’ of who we think people are when we first meet or see them. I think the problem with this is, and it’s something I pray about all the time, we often assume the worst about people. For me people always say they think I’m mean or find me intimidating. Once you get to know me you find that I am the least intimidating person ever and I’m not mean at all. I  also believe that due to judgements people pass on us before getting to know us we hold back from showing who we truly are. We have to learn to let our colors show and fly no matter what people will think about us or say about us.

Point two, our true selves will be revealed. I don’t know if you all know what it’s like to live a secret life but I do, and the fear of being exposed is unbearable. When I was younger my mom would always tell us, “everything done in the dark will come to light.” I think many of us can look back on our lives and see that at one point we were not the best people we were actually pretty bad and terrible people. We can see a point when we were pretending to be something or someone we’re not. Everything that we do in the dark, will eventually some to light. Everything we try to hide God knows what we’re doing, we cannot hide from God. We must be able to own up to our sin and surrender before God shows who we really are and what’s really going on in our life. We often talk about how people reveal their ‘true colors’ to us when we are hurt and we find out that they aren’t who they say they are. What about when we’ve hurt other people? Everything will come to the light eventually, the question is when the light is flashed over our lives what will be revealed?

Which brings me to my next point. Let your colors be beautiful. When I think about it, it always brings me back to the fruits of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness. Let these colors show. When people see our true colors let them see love and joy, patience goodness, all the fruits of the spirit. These should be our true colors. It’s not always a bad thing, it can be and actually is a good thing. Let it show, let it fly.

All this to say, be a good person, live right according to the word and will of God. Let you true colors be beautiful.

Reflection

1. When people see your true colors, what are they seeing?

Prayer Time

Talk to God about what we discussed today, Have a conversation with Him about your true colors, reveal to Him you heart and surrender to Him everything.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 209!