… and Consequences
Theme of the Week: Are You for Real?
Lee Strobel
Thursday, January 31, 2008
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: May you always be filled with … those good things that are produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God Philippians 1:11. Bonus Reading: 2 Peter 1:3-8
Linda and Jerry weren't perfect, we discovered. But then again, they never claimed to be.
Primarily what we saw was a gentle spirit of acceptance toward us, a lot more humility than pride, a willingness to admit when they were wrong, an anxiousness to reconcile when there was conflict, a readiness to acknowledge the rough edges of their character and a sincere effort to smooth them out, a refusal to playact by pretending that the Christian life is always happy, an admission that they struggled with their faith from time to time, but most of all, undergirding everything, we saw an honest desire to become a little more like Jesus, bit by bit, as time went by.
In short, they were real. Leslie and I became citizens of God's people largely through their example.
Now I don't want to make you paranoid, but if you're a Christ follower, you are being watched. Your friends, neighbors, and acquaintances are scanning your life with their hypocrisy radar, because they want to know whether you're authentic. And what they observe will either stymie or propel them in their spiritual journey.
—Lee Strobel in God's Outrageous Claims
My Response: Will others detect in me someone who approaches life with integrity?
Thought to Apply: How little people know who think that holiness is dull. When one meets the real thing … it is irresistible.—C.S. Lewis (British academic & author)
Adapted from God's Outrageous Claims (Zondervan, 1997, 2005) by permission.
Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity. 1 of 1
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May you receive glory and praise, Father, because the faith I claim and the life I live square up.
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