Take Pride In God’s Word

Over the last few weeks, I have been heavily engaged in putting together the Give Your Witness official website and while this responsibility has taken me away from writing as often, it has allowed me to build and work on seeing things from a Christian perspective. That is, rather than simply believing something because I am told so or because someone else does, I compare it with what scripture says to form my final conclusion.

As I have grown in the ministry, I have learned that lining up with what scripture says is the most important thing any Christian can do. Regardless of what we feel or what others think, as Christians, our beliefs are to be based on what Christ says and while this is a simple statement, it’s not something that most Christians practice. This is not a statement from some naïve new Christian but one from a Christian that has been on both sides and realize that I am just as guilty as the next person.

Scripture clearly tells us “He must increase, but I [must] decrease” (John 3:30). Our beliefs are not to be based on what we personally feel or think but rather, what scripture says. This can be difficult to do because we are human beings with real feelings and emotions and this can be extremely difficult to overcome. Scripture further tells us that we must separate ourselves from our flesh because the flesh does get in the way often: “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:5).

Again, this is something that so many are guilty of rather than just a few or certain people. Americans just like any other nation of people fall short of God’s glory just as whites, blacks, Asians, and on and on as this is not an issue that excludes any one person. One example that I can give is politics where people of all races and nationalities put their personal political opinions above what scripture says regardless if it lines up with God’s word or contradicts it. There have been times when I had to rearrange what I believed to fit Christ and while this was hard for a long time, this has become a personal issue for me.

No, I do not do this because I want to be seen as a perfect Christian which will never be possible. The harder that I try to do what Christ says to do, the worse people are in terms of what they label me as including extreme and radical. These terms used to bother me but they no longer do because I realize that we are not to hold ourselves up what the world thinks of us. In fact, as most people will learn at some point in their life, being labeled as extreme or radical for Christ is a real honor and we should take pride in this and scripture is clear on this: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).

Regardless of what we feel or what others think, as Christians, our beliefs are to be based on what Christ says and while this is a simple statement, it’s not something that most Christians practice.”