If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence in your life to convict you?
Whether you admit it or not or realize it or not, the world is watching. Your life, if you are a genuine Christian, is the only Bible some people will ever read. What is it saying about you and about Christ?
Nobody lives unto themselves. Everything you do affects someone else in one way or another, whether immediately or in the long run. We selfishly assume we can do whatever we want because it will only hurt us, but we lie to and deceive ourselves. David's sin affected the entire nation of Israel. Achan's sin, in taking things devoted to destruction and hiding them, affected his life and his entire family's lives, resulting in death. We are not an island unto ourselves. Just as a pebble dropped into a pond produces ripples that eventually touch the shore and even other ripples, so do the acts in our lives. The things I cling to affect those around me. What they see in me speaks volumes to them about me.
I will use pornography as an example because it is probably the largest addiction we face in this world. If you look at pornography, hidden behind a closet door, telling yourself that it isn't hurting anybody else, you're sadly mistaken. Your looking at pornography affects the way you see your spouse, the way you see your children, and the way you see other people. Your affection toward your spouse will wane, and while she may not know why, she will notice it and you probably will not. If your son happens to see you watching porn, that tells him that it's okay to do and you will have shapen him, unbeknownst to yourself, into a porn addict. If your daughter sees you selling yourself on the street or stripping in a club, that tells her that it's okay to do and you will have shapen her into a provider of sex. If your children see you treat your spouse as a sexual object, or other people as a sexual object, you have just molded their view of the opposite sex and how they will treat and use them. Your actions have consequences beyond you.
You claim to be a Christian. What evidence is there in your life to support that claim? John the Baptist said, "Bear fruit (evidence) in keeping with repentance." If you have repented and turned to the living God and if He has truly touched your life and made a change in your life, where is the evidence for it? If you have had a personal encounter with something as large as God, you will be permanently changed. If the world was going to put you on trial and convict you for being a Christian and sentence you to death, would they succeed? Would they have external evidence that would convict you of a surety? Not things you said, but things you did. You can talk all you want and yet your life reveals to everyone that you're not a Christian. Would they be able to accuse you of reading your Bible too much? Would they be able to accuse you of praying constantly to your God, bringing everything before Him? Would they be able to accuse you of helping others without ever asking for anything in return? Would they be able to accuse you of giving someone your shirt after they just stole your jacket? Would they be able to accuse you of having gone two miles when you were forced to go only one? Would they be able to accuse you of worshipping God during every moment of every day? Or, like an Indian pastor once told a visiting missionary, would they say, "There is much talk among those who have a crooked walk"? Would you be found to be false and just like the world?
"If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence in your life to convict you?"
This is a self-examination question for you to meditate on and examine your conversation, your lifestyle, your confession as a Christian, and see how you fare. The genuine Christian will repent of his sins and submit himself to his Lord. The false convert will make excuses, claiming he's just fine, trying to avoid self-examination because he knows what he will find and he doesn't want to look it in the mirror. But that is what will take place on Judgment Day, and at that point it will be too late. Examine yourself now to see whether you are on the narrow road that leads to life. If you're walking the broad road, repent and start walking fresh with your Lord and Saviour, seeking to do His will. May the God of peace be with you.
Whether you admit it or not or realize it or not, the world is watching. Your life, if you are a genuine Christian, is the only Bible some people will ever read. What is it saying about you and about Christ?
Nobody lives unto themselves. Everything you do affects someone else in one way or another, whether immediately or in the long run. We selfishly assume we can do whatever we want because it will only hurt us, but we lie to and deceive ourselves. David's sin affected the entire nation of Israel. Achan's sin, in taking things devoted to destruction and hiding them, affected his life and his entire family's lives, resulting in death. We are not an island unto ourselves. Just as a pebble dropped into a pond produces ripples that eventually touch the shore and even other ripples, so do the acts in our lives. The things I cling to affect those around me. What they see in me speaks volumes to them about me.
I will use pornography as an example because it is probably the largest addiction we face in this world. If you look at pornography, hidden behind a closet door, telling yourself that it isn't hurting anybody else, you're sadly mistaken. Your looking at pornography affects the way you see your spouse, the way you see your children, and the way you see other people. Your affection toward your spouse will wane, and while she may not know why, she will notice it and you probably will not. If your son happens to see you watching porn, that tells him that it's okay to do and you will have shapen him, unbeknownst to yourself, into a porn addict. If your daughter sees you selling yourself on the street or stripping in a club, that tells her that it's okay to do and you will have shapen her into a provider of sex. If your children see you treat your spouse as a sexual object, or other people as a sexual object, you have just molded their view of the opposite sex and how they will treat and use them. Your actions have consequences beyond you.
You claim to be a Christian. What evidence is there in your life to support that claim? John the Baptist said, "Bear fruit (evidence) in keeping with repentance." If you have repented and turned to the living God and if He has truly touched your life and made a change in your life, where is the evidence for it? If you have had a personal encounter with something as large as God, you will be permanently changed. If the world was going to put you on trial and convict you for being a Christian and sentence you to death, would they succeed? Would they have external evidence that would convict you of a surety? Not things you said, but things you did. You can talk all you want and yet your life reveals to everyone that you're not a Christian. Would they be able to accuse you of reading your Bible too much? Would they be able to accuse you of praying constantly to your God, bringing everything before Him? Would they be able to accuse you of helping others without ever asking for anything in return? Would they be able to accuse you of giving someone your shirt after they just stole your jacket? Would they be able to accuse you of having gone two miles when you were forced to go only one? Would they be able to accuse you of worshipping God during every moment of every day? Or, like an Indian pastor once told a visiting missionary, would they say, "There is much talk among those who have a crooked walk"? Would you be found to be false and just like the world?
"If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence in your life to convict you?"
This is a self-examination question for you to meditate on and examine your conversation, your lifestyle, your confession as a Christian, and see how you fare. The genuine Christian will repent of his sins and submit himself to his Lord. The false convert will make excuses, claiming he's just fine, trying to avoid self-examination because he knows what he will find and he doesn't want to look it in the mirror. But that is what will take place on Judgment Day, and at that point it will be too late. Examine yourself now to see whether you are on the narrow road that leads to life. If you're walking the broad road, repent and start walking fresh with your Lord and Saviour, seeking to do His will. May the God of peace be with you.