Bringing Glory to God

Are your actions helping or hurting the growth of the Kingdom of God? When I was in college, I was not a Christian. I wasn't even close to being considered a Christian. In those four years, I played on the offensive line next to a man by the name of Curt Porter. Curt was a Christian, and he was one of my good buddies. Another buddy of mine and myself would often make fun of Curt. We would call him a "Holy Roller" or a "Jesus Freak" or another made-up Christian name we could think of at the time. Curt attended services at the church in our town, the Jacksonville church of Christ, regularly, and that is why we always messed with him. The crazy thing was when I became a Christian; he was one of the first people I thought about. Curt never caved when we were ragging on him. He always stood up for his faith.

Can you think of that same thing happening in your lives? Is there someone or some people making fun of you for your faith? How are you responding?

In 1 Peter 2:12, Peter instructs the Christians to keep their conduct excellent among the Gentiles. The Gentiles here refers to Non-Christians. The context of this letter is the Christians that are suffering severe persecution for their faith. We may not be suffering severely, but there are times people are going to bully us or slander us for our faith. How are you acting in those times? Your actions can help bring those who are lost to the Kingdom of God and to glorify HIM.

- Matt Jones