It seems funny to me that by living in ways that are upright, moral, and pure can get us in hot water. When I was a kid I remember several times when my "friends" wanted me to do things I didn't find appropriate and when I declined they labeled me a "goody two-shoes." (okay, I never really understood this phrase, but most of us know that it means someone who acts better than others; one who tries to live an upright life.) At that time of my life it devastated me. I wasn't so sure I wanted to be "better" than others, yet I didn't want to be defined by the actions of my friends either. So I was in a dilemma.
As an adult the same thing has happened. When I haven't wanted to do the things my friends or colleagues were doing, they quit asking me. There were many parties I never got invited to, gatherings that I was never told about, even class reunions where I never got the invitation. I wasn't any fun according to those people. But I was trusted.
When I became a real Christian as an adult, that's when I really found out what the cost would be to live. I left two companies that I felt were compromising their morals and asking me to do the same in order to do business. At one place of business I found a group of Christians that made work much more pleasurable but it was the non-Christians that made it so difficult.
Living a moral life, a life to please God, costs something. It may cost a few friends. It may cost money (the lower income of honest gain). It may cost good jobs. It may mean that daily we'll take a ribbing for living so purely, morally. It may mean we get left out of fellowship. But I'm sure that this is not a problem anymore.
"Keep your word even when it costs you, make an honest living, never take a bribe. You'll never get blacklisted if you live like this." (Psalm 15:5, The Message)
I've discovered that I have better friends, more secure friends, more dependable friends through my faith than I have ever had anywhere else. And when the going gets rough, those other people will seek us. They've learned who they can trust. It's us. When those who didn't want to be friends with us really need a friend, who will they call?
You!
Living to please God puts us in contrast with the world. Yet it is that other-worldly living that draws people to us. In the short run it may cost us to live for God. In the long run, it makes all the difference in the world!
Peace ><>
pc
1 comment:
You are so right about our worldly friends turning to us when time get tough. The challenge for us as Christian I think is to still be there for those who have lost or never known the way of Christ. It is so easy for us to stand in judgement of them and to turn our backs on them.
I pray that I can respond as Jesus did with the woman at the well. To loving embrace them, walk with them and remind them to go and sin no more.
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