LOOKING AT OURSELVES THROUGH
THE EYES OF OTHERS

There was a song which we heard sung quite a few times several years ago that we included in our little song book we published when we evangelized. The first stanza and chorus goes:

This world’s been looking and longing,/ For hundreds and hundreds of years,

For someone to share in its sorrow, / For someone to share in its tears.

Jesus left the Father and angels / To bring us this message of truth,
But now that He’s gone back to glory,/ Does the world see Jesus in you?

When you speak does the world think of Jesus./When you sing does Jesus sing too.

As you walk through the world and its sorrow,/ Does the world see Jesus in you?

Jesus said in Matthew 6:24: No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

The inference in this statement is that there is a choice between only two masters. And that we are serving one of the two!

In Romans 6:16, Paul stated: Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Again, the inference is that we are yielding to some greater authority. We are servants to some power whether we admit it or not.

That power to which we yield ourselves in turn influences our lifestyle. Our conversation and conduct before others.

The thing about it, however, is that we get to decide what we do with our lives. We get to make the decisions in life. That is why it is so important that we make sure that our decisions are such that it does not affect others in such a way that would hinder them from living for God themselves.

WHY DID HE SAVE ME?

I’m afraid that we can become so preoccupied with our own little world that we lose sight of the reason God allowed us to become His child. I believe this reason could be summed up in two verses:

Acts 1:8: But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both In Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Matthew 5:14: Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
This prompts us to ask two questions concerning these two verses:

· 1. Are we the witness that God expects us to be to our neighbors: to our friends, to the people we work with and do business with?

· 2. Are we a light that is bright enough to shine into the paths of others to lead them to the cross?

If the enemy can affect our ability to be a witness to others, then he will defeat any effort we may put forth in reaching them for the Lord. Our influence on winning them to the Lord will be mute and void if our effectiveness as a witness for Jesus Christ is negated.

If the enemy can bring clouds of envy or strife, the darkness of jealousy or division among us, then we lose our ability to influence the lives of sinners in a positive manner.

The words of Paul are so appropriate in regards to how committed we should be in trying to reach others with this great experience: 1Corinthians 9:22: To the weak became as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

A meaningful touch is so valuable. Our hands tell so much about us and our feelings. Over one third of our five million touch receptors are centered in our hands! The hands are so sensitive that blind people are taught to read by touching bumps on paper. Braille is the language of the blind that can be read just as readily as we read the words on this paper.

Studies have been made about the effect of the human touch. What the touch of a mother means to her baby. The comforting touch of a caring and concerned person as they seek to console someone who is hurting.

WISE SHEEP

In Matthew 10:16, Jesus said: Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

These are the words of Jesus as He was sending out His disciples to preach, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Their testimony would have a vital affect and influence on those whom they communicated with concerning the Kingdom of Heaven. Men could be turned on or turned off about this new message concerning a kingdom of heaven merely by the way the disciples presented themselves.

We can become so caught up in our own little world that we fail to realize that there are others living here as well. Others whom we can influence in a negative or in a positive manner. As our path crosses the paths of others, and we have opportunity to speak with others, or do business dealings with them, we should always keep in mind that they are souls who need to be saved. We need to pray Lord let me say something or do something that will have a positive effect on those I meet.

We should never want it to be said about the way we talk to others, or the way we do business with others, that they would be offended at us to the point that they would not be interested in coming to our Church.

Solomon informed us in Proverbs 11:30: The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

Solomon, of course, was not talking about winning souls in the same manner that we use the term, but his words are certainly applicable. Reaching souls is the most important business we can be employed in, and one which we should give our very best to accomplish.

Let us never be guilty of treating someone in such a manner that they would be turned off by our religion. Don’t ever treat anyone in such a manner that you could not feel at liberty to go to them later and invite them to church with you.

The way we conduct ourselves in the business world can have tremendous effect on how people look at us from a religious standpoint as well. If we are not honest in our business dealings, chances are we will not have a very impressive testimony either.

Albert Sweitzer wrote: “Energy is a noiseless force. It is there, and it operates. True ethics begins where the use of words ceases.

“For centuries, seafarers kept their course as best they could by the stars. But eventually they rose above the imperfections of this method by discovering that the magnetic needle pointed north in response to a constantly operative force. Thereafter they found their way safely in darkest night upon the remotest sea.

“The progress we must seek in a perfected ethics is of that kind. As long as our ethics is a matter of duties and virtues. We are finding our direction by the stars: however brilliantly they gleam, they are nevertheless only uncertain guides that, moreover, are easily concealed by a rising fog. On a stormy night they are no help. Our present situation is just that. But if we develop an ethics based on a conscious and rational idea of reverence for life. We have found a more trustworthy guide which will serve all humanity. We will then be well on our way to true ethical progress.”

Another wise saying from the Proverbs is found in 18:24: A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

Simple yet profound advice. No one is attracted to someone who obviously is not interested in their company.

This also fits in so well with what Jesus said in Mark 12:31: And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

There is not a sane person among us who would deliberately hurt ourselves. There is not one among us who would speak evil of ourselves. There is not one among us who would degrade ourselves and make derogatory remarks about ourselves.

And if we happen to hear that someone else has spoken ill of us, it usually hurts our feelings, or disappoints us with them.

This brings us also to that familiar statement of Jesus in Matthew 7: 12: Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

“All things whatsoever, etc. This command has been usually called the Saviour’s golden rule, a name given to it on account of its great value. All that you expect or desire of others in similar circumstances, do to them. Act not from selfishness or injustice, but put yourself in the place of the other, and ask what you would expect of him then. This would make you impartial, and candid, and just. It would destroy avarice, envy, treachery, unkindness, slander, theft, adultery, and murder. It has been well said, that this law is what the balance-wheel is to machinery. It would prevent all irregularity of movement in the moral world. as that does in a steam-engine. It is easily applied, its justice is seen by all men, and all must acknowledge its force and value,” Barnes.

So, the next time you feel the urge to say something negative about someone, stop and consider: Would I want someone to say this about me?

I had a book in my library — which I have not been able to find for some reason — that was written by Andrew Carnegie: “How to win Friends and influence People.” It is a small book with some powerful practical advice on dealing with others and winning them over to your way of thinking. The book by Zig Ziglar, See You At The Top is also an interesting book to read. One section in his book spoke of people who had received what seemed like a “lemon” treatment, which they in tum took advantage of their situation and brought something good out of it.

One such paragraph went like this:

“Charles Goodyear’s lemon was a prison sentence, resulting from a contempt of court citation. While in prison? Goodyear didn’t groan and complain. Instead he became an assistant in the kitchen. While there, he continued to work on an idea. In the process, he discovered a method for vulcanizing rubber. His lemon, a prison sentence, became our lemonade. We have better tires, which means better travel and a better way of life.”

This reminds us of the story of Joseph and all the problems and predicaments he found himself in during his younger years of life. He refused to allow his circumstances or surroundings to dictate his attitude about life. Consequently, he rose to be second in command of all Egypt. The influence he had on the lives of others was tremendous.

Our conduct, our conversation, can have tremendous influence on the people we rub shoulders with in either a positive or negative manner. It is up to us which way it will be!

LOVE

A romantic love suggests that we FALL IN LOVE. It supposes that love is something that happens to people while they are in a passive state. Christian love, however, begins with a commandment that calls us to choose to love people regardless of their human attractiveness.
It is active, not passive.

Love of this sort was first demonstrated in our Lord when He came searching for disobedient children. Adam fled, and God came searching for him. Later that search would be illustrated in the beautiful picture of the shepherd seeking a lost lamb. Jesus would picture that love in the father of the prodigal son, who was seen standing, waiting for his son’s return.

This love searches for the wayward, the downcast and downtrodden. This love searches until it finds. This love looks beyond personalities. This love is racially blind. This love has no selfish motives. This love considers the needs of others first.

This love of which we speak, and of which Paul spoke in 1 Corinthians thirteen, is stronger than any earthly tie. Note some of the things Paul enumerated that LOVE does and does NOT do:

· Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not
puffed up,

· Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

· Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

· Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

· Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

Whether one is speaking of love for the sinner, or the love we are to manifest to one another as fellow members of the body of Christ, in both instances this love prevails.

Paul admonished us in Romans 12:10: Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love,’ in honour preferring one another.

The love and concern of others takes precedence over our own personal feelings and needs.

Let US Conclude

When we manifest the love which our Lord manifested and which He expects us to manifest toward one another, it is not only recognized by those among our own, but the world considers it as well. The world recognizes that there is something different about the way the people of God feel toward one another.

Jesus put it this in Matthew 5: 16: Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Whatever we do it should be bringing recognition and honor to the One whom we represent: The Lord Jesus Christ.

· Does our conversations honor Him?

· Does our conduct honor Him?

· Does our lifestyle honor Him?

Monday Mornings with Bishop

Join me, Bishop ML Walls, each Monday morning as we study the Bible together.

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