Being Different!

Being Different!

Invoke blessings upon and pray for the happiness of those who curse you, implore God's blessing (favor) upon those who abuse you [who revile, reproach, disparage, and high-handedly misuse you]. Luke 6:28 AMPC

bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. Luke 6:28 KJV

The Charge:

Different versions; the same message: God calls me to live a life that is different in character, commitment and content from the people of the world around me. We keep emphasizing the need to let the light of God shine out of our lives, but how would that happen if I do not give the light of God room to first take root in me before its fruit can then flow out of me? The verse before us today is addressed to disciples, people who have made up their minds to follow Jesus everywhere, no matter where he leads. It is not a call to be taken lightly or without counting the cost, because it is a call that will cost you dearly. 

Men will deliberately step on you, so they can see the stuff you are made of. Men will go out of their way to mistreat you, just to see how you would react. Sometimes, it could just be indifference, but in all ways, I have a duty, and it is to ensure that the work of God in me is seen in my walk among men. When men come with curses and abuse, what flows out of me must look like what I have spent time storing up in me. If there is a squeeze on me now, what will flow out: that which the world recognizes as its own, or that which  is of God? Whatever it is that flows out forms my character. It has to be right.

The Conclusion:

There is no room for silence here, where I will just sit and do nothing. I am under a mandate to respond to whatever is going on around me. Like a thermostat, I am to regulate my environment and make it conform to the conditions of peace. I must not keep quiet and blend in; life demands a response or reaction from me, and I must show that I am a child of God. Whatever it is that I get, I give that which I have, which is God's nature. May it never be that I take the path of least resistance because I do not want to offend, but may the light of God in me  be attractive to men. God's time of favour is here.