Walking in Truth and Honesty
How
do Christians show the world that our lives have been changed through Christ?
What makes Christians different from those individuals that are not
saved? Well, upon salvation Christians know immediately that their lives have
been changed forever, because we have the peace of Christ’s forgiveness in our
hearts, as well the Holy Spirit’s assurance that we are now a child of God’s. For,
once we have believed on Jesus Christ and asked for forgiveness of our sins, we
are given the Holy Spirit to live inside of us and to guide us and comfort us
in all ways. However, showing the world that our lives have been changed
through Christ is a harder thing to do.
Showing
the world that our lives have been changed is harder, because although we have
a new desire in our hearts to tell the world about the new birth in us through
salvation, we do not always know how to live and behave differently from the
rest of the world. Learning how to live for Christ takes time and study. That
is why we must commit ourselves to learning everything that God has set before
us in the Word of God, i.e., the Bible, so we will know how to walk in truth
and honesty. For, we need to live as righteously as possible in order to shine
the light of Christ into the world. However, it is within the Bible wherein we
learn how to set ourselves apart from the secular fleshly world that the devil
represents. In fact, the Apostle Paul succinctly explained salvation and how we
are represent our new life in Christ within the following scripture:
“For
the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us
that, denying ungodliness and world lusts, we should live soberly, righteously,
and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious
appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us,
that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own
special people, zealous for good works.” -- (Titus 2: 11-14. NKJV).
Believers
can offer evidence of their new faith and salvation, as well as their total commitment
to Christ by putting their best foot forward for the world to see. How do
Christians put their best foot forward and show the world that they are no
longer the doomed unforgiven sinful person that they once were? Well, they must
be a person of truth and integrity as they choose their words carefully and do
godly deeds to help others and to contribute to the Kingdom of God. Living a
life of virtue and integrity is the only way to show consistent evidence of
their new life in Christ. Then in showing the world that they are truly living
for Christ with virtue and integrity, Christians must set higher standards for
their behavior or actions, as well as set higher standards for good gracious attitudes
and the use of good words. Then, their kind deeds and love will reflect their love
of Christ and others.
Christians
are to listen to the Holy Spirit within them so they can be guided into
righteous living for God and then for others to emulate as well. We are to
strive to obtain all of the fruit of the Spirit which is “love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. … Those who
belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and
desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let
us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” -- (Galatians 5: 22-26. NIV). In other words,
the heart’s desire of the born-again Christian should be to live in such a way
that when we get to Heaven, we will hear, “Well done, my good and faithful
servant!”
Part
of living for God is to avoid hurtful arguments and to cling to the virtues
that the Bible has delineated for those who are living a righteous life.
Indeed, the Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Ephesians in which he told them
that when they accepted Christ as their Savior that they were to change the way
they previously lived. Paul said that “Born-again” Christians are to: “…put
off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according
to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that
you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true
righteousness and holiness.” – (Ephesians 4: 22-24.
NKJV).
This means that there are certain behaviors, actions, and even words that
Christians are not to participate in or use so that we can constantly reflect
true righteousness and holiness for God.
In
Part I of Living for Christ and
Eternity, we talked about avoiding anger and bitterness that can not
only hurt the other person with words that cut deep, but that can lead to a
life of bitterness and sin for the one who refuses to forgive the person that
they believe has hurt them. I especially emphasized the importance of forgiving
others like you would want the Father to forgive you. Today, though, we are going
to focus on another of the worldly sins that can get us caught in Satan’s
temptation trap. That is the sin of stealing. Stealing and coveting,
though, go hand in hand, so we will touch on coveting as well. Both of these
sins are listed in The Ten Commandments, so we know that God does not
approve of these actions. Furthermore, we know that there will be no stealing,
anger, bitterness or coveting in eternity, because only born-again Christians
with their righteousness will be allowed to come before the Lord, because the
Lord abhors unrighteousness. Therefore, as “saved” individuals, we are to
attempt to live our lives here on earth as righteously as possible, thus
setting good examples for others to be able to see Christ in our lives. We are
to reflect truth, honesty, and love in all we do.
Stealing is Wrong!
God
gave Moses Ten Commandments for the Israelite people to live by. God
gave us all of the commandments to show us that there is a right and wrong way
to live and that sin can come at us from many different directions. The eighth commandment
says: “You shall not steal”. –
(Exodus 20: 15. NKJV). All people understand that stealing is
taking for ourselves something that does not belong to us or that we did not
pay for. It can be the taking of something that we did not work for or the
taking of something abstract such as an idea. But when we take from someone
else something that belongs to them, we have stolen. Usually our parents teach
us that stealing is wrong, but sometimes the temptation is so great that an
individual succumbs to the stealing even when they know that it is wrong, such
as in certain cases where stealing is for self-preservation. For someone may steal
something to eat, because they have no money and they or their family are starving.
Still, this justification doesn’t make stealing right or less sinful. It would
be better to offer to work for the food than to take it from someone else.
For years stealing was considered to be such a
terrible crime that the laws in some countries became so strict against
stealing that one could have his right hand cut off for stealing, even if their
stealing was just to survive. Some ethnic groups still adhere to this form of
retribution. On the other hand, in certain cases one’s life could actually be
taken if the person was caught stealing. In fact, even in the old west of the
United States, if someone stole a horse and was caught, they would be hung as a
horse thief. Fortunately, times have changed. However, a person can still go to
jail for stealing a horse, but taking the person’s life for stealing is no
longer allowed. Furthermore, only those countries that are considered barbaric
or under Sharia law still cut off the hand of the one who stole something.
In
decades past, stealing was considered to be a highly punishable crime with
severe punishment. Society today, though, has allowed the virtues and values of
the Bible and of previous generations laws to be circumvented or eroded away to
the point that we now live in an age when stealing no longer has the
terrible offense or stigma attached to it that it once had. Yes, most people still
believe that stealing is wrong in most situations, and believe that people
should be sent to jail for stealing. But, even though most people, at least those from
age 40 and up, have grown up understanding that stealing is wrong, they have
also accepted that extenuating circumstances may come into play. Although many people
yet believe that it is still a sin to take something from someone else, we have
also entered a time period where there seems to be a great deal of
subjectiveness to what were once firm rules of law and behaviors of truth, thus
creating a subjectiveness to the act of stealing. To make matters worse, some in
our younger generations have not been specifically taught by their parents or
teachers that stealing is wrong, so they do not have the same abhorrence of
stealing that past generations have had.
Indeed, some of our youth and young people now see no problem in
grabbing what they want from someone else or from a store as long as they don’t
get caught. That is because even if they are caught, there are the lawyers who
can help them avoid jail or a fine.
What type of things can someone steal?
There
are many types of stealing. Stealing does not have to involve the literal
taking of a physical item from another person. Stealing can also be the taking
of an idea or the appropriation of someone’s work without their permission. Corporations steal from each other, ideas are
stolen from other people, and people steal in order to avoid having to do work
of their own. This last kind of stealing often occurs in our high schools and with
college age students who copy off their neighbor on tests. Still others find
ways to get a copy of the test before they even take the test, or they buy class
project papers that someone else has written so they can pass the paper off as
their own in order to pass a course without doing the work.
These
young people who cheat off of others or who buy papers to hand in as their
own have not been taught ethics, let alone taught what constitutes stealing.
Nor have they been taught how stealing not only hurts the one whose item was
stolen, but it hurts the thief in the long run as well. For although the thief may have passed the class because of the stolen paper or test questions,
they have not gained the knowledge needed for their future life or the knowledge which was acquired from their classmate in order to pass the test or class. Moreover, they have
certainly not acquired the personal knowledge needed to pass the test on
their own or to use the information in future situations. Nor have they
discovered the joy of working hard to accomplish or achieve something in life
on their own. Worse still, their morally deficit values will chip away at their
soul. Ultimately, that is just what the devil wants too. He wants us humans to
constantly be sinning so that we can’t see the truth of God’s grace and love.
So, if a person has denigrated their soul by being unethical, immoral and
dishonest, perhaps they will do even worse things as time goes on. Furthermore,
those who steal and who also profess
to be Christians are hurting the Christian faith and are keeping others from
seeing the Truth and the Light of Christ.
How
can a true born-again Christian steal when he/she knows that it is against God
and that they are misrepresenting the Christ of their salvation? Well, we live
in a fallen world and it is easy to emulate the behaviors of the society in
which we live, starting with the small things in life that do not seem to be a
big deal. But, Christians have to set themselves apart from the ordinary and
make sure that they do not even steal small items which is easy to do and for
many on their jobs is the norm. For example, stealing time from an employer to do personal things on the job is something
that most employees have done at one time or another. But, Christians should
hold themselves to a higher standard.
Other
things like mooching off a friend for
meals or borrowing clothes because
the person just doesn’t want to work hard or long enough to get the money to
buy their own is something that many college age non-Christian students do. Many
non-Christian students have gone through college by mooching off the government
for loans they probably have no intention of paying back. Then, if they can’t
get the lucrative job they dreamed of upon graduation from college many non-Christian
graduates will not even try to find work of any kind, but will instead go home
to mom and dad and mooch living off of them. Why? Well, they have not been taught
about a strong work-ethic nor have they been instilled with the desire to make
it on their own even it means taking a menial job. It seems that getting
something for nothing is the more common way of doing things now.
Once
a person invites Christ into their heart and is saved, the Holy Spirit starts
guiding them and leading them into all truth. But, it takes time for the newly
saved person to fully understand what the difference is between living in a
secular world that accepts the lowest of virtues and the lowest rungs of truth and
honesty and in living for Christ. They need to have had a background in truth
and honesty as well as having had parents who have tried to teach them right
from wrong in order to grow quickly into virtuous and loving people who care
about others.
Sadly,
though, parents and grandparents are now reaping what they have not
sown. They are reaping weeds instead of beautiful blooming plants or young
people that will continue to reproduce even more beautiful blooming plants or
children for God. Instead, parents and grandparents are reaping weeds that will
continue to reproduce the weeds of selfishness, thoughtlessness, greed, etc., because
they have not sown the Ten commandments or the virtues and values of living a
truthful and honest life within their children. They have failed to set the
standards for truthful and honest behavior. Moreover, they have failed to teach
their children the basic difference between what is the right thing to do and
what is the wrong thing to do. Although God gave parents and grandparents the
responsibility of teaching values, virtues, and morals, many have let God and
their children down. Furthermore, they have failed to recognize that because we
are all born sinners, that this teaching of their children must start out early
in life in order for it to be truly instilled within the person.
Most
parents know their children need to be taught early in life that stealing is
wrong, because they have seen first-hand their one and two-year-old age children
or even their small grandchildren take a toy from another child without out any
qualms. Unfortunately, both society and their secular parental love within
their hearts tell them it is wrong to discipline a child for any reason. But,
even for parents who understand that admonishment is important for wrong
actions, it is still hard to do. To make matters worse, once the child is
confronted with the fact that the toy is not theirs, most toddlers will even go
so far as to lie and say that it is theirs. Now, the child has not only stolen
an item, but has now lied about the stealing. It is at this point that the
parent must take the toy from their child and give it back to the other child
and then place their child in timeout for taking the item and lying about it.
But, if a parent does not take action for whatever reason then the child will
continue to both steal and lie, coming up with even more deceitful ways of
stealing and lying as time goes on.
Most parents soon discover that the stealing
is not just a one-time incident, so if they are not on top of each small stealing
situation, their child will often find ways to deceive them about their
stealing again and again while getting more inventive in their stories. But, if
the parent is aware of their child’s “take and claim” tendency and stops it
with discipline and love, the child will begin to understand that stealing is
wrong. However, parents cannot just assume that their child will never steal
again. For, like everything else in life, our children need a firm foundation
of truth and honesty in order to not succumb to this particular sinfulness
again. Certainly, they need to be taught from the Word of God about right and
wrong.
Unfortunately,
as children grow up, parents may begin to feel that their child has already
learned what he/she needs to know about stealing and truth telling, so they no
longer keep tabs on situations wherein their child has opportunities to steal
and to lie about it. Moreover, the actions or inactions of the parents can
greatly affect the way the child views stealing. For example, if the child or
youth sees the parent bring home paper, pens, and paper clips from work that actually
belong to the office where they work, the parent has in essence told the child
that it is okay to steal in certain situations. Or if the parent fails to
discipline the child for taking things that don’t belong to them, then the child
will see no reason to stop stealing. These are just a couple of the many
reasons that high school and college age students have come to believe that
there is no harm in stealing. For, the parents have set an example of “no big
deal” for their child.
Although
God has given us the commandment to not steal along with the other nine
commandments given to help keep us from sinning, there are other verses in the
Bible that also address stealing. In fact, as Christians and as Christian parents,
we are to emphasize all the Scriptures in the Bible that relate to our Christian walk here on earth, including
the ones that relate to truthfulness and honesty. One of those Scriptures relating
to our Christian walk specifically addresses
the commandment against stealing. Indeed, the Apostle Paul lists not
stealing within his letter about Christian behaviors to the Ephesians in
Ephesus. In fact, Paul specifically states that once we are born-again, we are not
to steal. For, Paul said, “He who steals must steal no longer;
but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so
that he will have something to share with one who has need.”—
(Ephesians 4: 28. NASB).
Coveting
Coveting
is an internal or heart form of stealing that can actually lead to the physical
taking of something from another. So, what exactly is coveting? Well, coveting
is to ardently want what someone else
has, which means that the person is burning or passionately aflame with the
desire to acquire what the other person has. A synonym often used for covet is envy,
however, I believe to covet or coveting is a deeper form of envy which leads to
ardently wanting what the other
person has. For example, one can envy someone’s car, wishing that they had a
car like the one that the person has, yet they do nothing about it. Yes, it is
wrong to envy what another person has and envy may cause a person to say
something snide about the other person not deserving the car, or to be hateful
to that person for their fortune, but they don’t usually do anything else about
their envy. Yes, the envy can eat up their heart causing them to be jealous
which is again against God’s laws. But, most people who envy are simply jealous
of the other person’s good fortune or wealth that enables them to purchase such
a wonderful car. Only in situations of extreme envy and jealousy will the
person begin to covet with a passionate burning fire within that makes them then
attempt to get what they want. However, when a person finally succumbs to coveting,
they will take both initial envy and jealousy one step further.
Obviously,
there are not degrees of sin, for all sin is sin, and sin is unrighteous in the
eyes of God. However, God’s Ten Commandments specifically tells us that we are not
to covet. Actually, the commandment says: “Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not
covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything
your neighbor owns.” --
(Exodus 20: 17. NLT). Although coveting includes envy,
coveting goes so much further. For, when a person covets, they not only want
what the other person has, but they are resenting the fact that the other person
has what they would like to have. They do not want the other person to have the
item. They want so much what the other person has that they are only focused on
their desire to get it. Their coveting also can focus on resenting the other person
for what they have, which can then lead to even hurting the other person to get
what they want. Unfortunately, the coveting desire can be so strong for what
the other person has that it can lead to stealing the item or thing from the
other person in any way that the the one coveting can find to obtain it, which can even
lead to murder. In these cases, this sort of desire also becomes idolatry,
because the person is putting the thing that they are coveting above God thus
making it an idol. Moreover, God says, “You shall have no other gods before Me.”
–
(Exodus 20: 3, 4. NIV). But, the second commandment also states, “You
shall not make for yourself an idol. …” Certainly, coveting then can
lead to idolatry which leads to having or placing something else as an idol above God.
It
is important that we teach our children not to envy and not to covet what
someone else has. For, coveting can lead to stealing or worse, murder. The
Apostle Paul said, “For the commandments against adultery and murder and stealing and
coveting – and any other commandment – are summed up in this one commandment: ‘Love
your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to anyone, so love satisfies all
of God’s requirements.” – (Romans 13: 9, 10. NLT).
When we love others as we love ourselves, we do not want to do anything to hurt
them. Certainly, we would not want someone to hurt us by stealing from us or by
coveting something that we have. So, why would we want to hurt another person
by stealing from them or by coveting what they have, if we love the other person
the way that we love ourselves. That is why it is also so important for us to
teach our children and grandchildren not to steal or covet as well. For, they
will grow up to be parents who set examples for their children as well, and
teaching the truth of God’s Word is accomplished through each successive
generation.
Having a Christ-like Attitude and Christ-like Characteristics
It
is through these and other verses in his letter to the Ephesians that the
Apostle Paul further explains to us that Christians are to have a different
attitude and are to have different behaviors and characteristics than those people
who are not Christian. Moreover, now that we have turned our lives over to
Christ and have been given the gift of salvation and are living for Him, we
must also change our behaviors. This means that among other things we are not
to steal to get what we want. Instead, we are to work or to labor for everything
that we want or that we get.
In
another letter, the Apostle Paul went even a step further in teaching/mentoring
the Christians that we are not to mooch off of other Christians, which
is also considered to be a type of stealing. The Apostle Paul said that all Christians
are to work for our food and not steal food from others, nor are we to expect
others to feed us when we have not contributed to the acquisition of the food
for the group. The Apostle Paul also wrote something similar to the
Thessalonians saying, “Whoever does not work should not eat. Yet we
hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and wasting time
meddling in other people’s business. … we command them: Settle down and get to
work. Earn your own living.” – (II Thessalonians 3:
10, 11. NLT). In other words, we are not to expect handouts, but are
to work for our food and clothing. Most importantly, Christians are to set an
example of working hard in every situation so that others can see that we
represent what is good, truthful and honest. In doing so, we can then help
others who truly have a need to have food or clothing, or who truly have a need
for help; even if the help that they need is help in studying for a test. One
of the best examples that we can be is to be for another person an Active Relational Christian Mentor who
can be of help to those in need or who can find the help they need from another mentor no matter what the area of
need is. At the same time, we are to be an example of righteous living and of
honesty, truthfulness, and integrity.
Later,
the Apostle Paul again wrote specifically about Christians working for the Lord
when he wrote to the Colossians. It is in this letter that Paul wrote: “we
have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the
knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you
will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects bearing
fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…” –
(Colossians 1: 9, 10, NASB).
Notice
that in both his letter to the Ephesians and to the Colossians, Paul speaks of
“laboring, or preforming with our own
hands what is good”, so that we can bear fruit “in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God”. Bearing
good fruit in our Christian walk, means that we have not only learned how to
work to receive what we need, but that we can work to help others receive what
they need as well. Thus, we are bearing fruit in every good work or service to
the Lord while at the same time we are “being
filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”
Christians
then, are to walk in a manner that is worthy of representing Christ’s name to
the world. Representing Christ to the world is more than just having loving,
kind, and thoughtful conversations. We are to conduct ourselves in a way that
will represent Christ with honor and give Him glory. We are to share the Gospel message and tell others of eternity with God through salvation. That is why it is so
important to not steal and to not do anything that will dishonor
Christ or His message of salvation. Indeed, it is our attitude and behaviors that allow others to see
Christ in us so they, too, will want the peace, joy, and happiness that comes
from personally knowing Christ and accepting His forgiveness. Furthermore, it
is those same attitudes and behaviors that will allow our children and
grandchildren to learn how to represent the truth and Christ to the world
through their own attitudes and behaviors.
Moving from a World Wrapped in Darkness to a World Emblazoned with
Light
We
were all born into a world that is full of darkness. It is the darkness of sin
that surrounds each of us. It is that darkness that Satan wants us to long for
and not resist. Sadly, though, it is that darkness that can lead us right into
eternal hell, if we do not grab onto and hold on to the light of Christ that
God has offered to each of us. For years, people thought that they were helpless
to escape the bondage of their sin. However, God defeated Satan, the master of
this darkness and bondage, when He sent His Only Son, Jesus Christ into the
world to die and then arise from the grave conquering death for our sins. How
did Jesus conquer death and give us the chance to be cleansed of our sins? Well,
Jesus defeated Satan and eternal death when after taking our sins upon his body
and dying for our sins, he arose from the grave and its eternal darkness. It is
Christ who can bring each of us into a world emblazoned with light and give us
the freedom from eternal death and darkness. For, if we believe on the one and
only Son of God, we can be Saved from eternal darkness and never have to fear
that death again.
In
being born into this world of darkness and sin, means that each of us starts out
our life by being alienated from God. But, God did not want us to be alienated
from Him, so in His mercy and grace, God has given each of us a way to spend
eternity in a world emblazoned with God’s light, if we so choose to accept His
free gift. For, if we believe that Christ is God incarnate and that He came to
earth to reconcile us to Himself through His death on the cross and His
subsequent resurrection, we can be saved for all eternity living forever in the
Light of God. We will be immortal, because our relationship with God will have
been cleansed and restored to us through Jesus’ blood on the cross, i.e., if we
choose to accept God’s gift of mercy and grace.
Unfortunately,
some people will refuse to believe in Christ as the living Son of God. But, God
does not want anyone to be excluded from His eternal world of light and love,
yet some people will exclude themselves. Why do they refuse to believe and
repent of their sins? Well, their hearts have become hardened to the voice of
the Holy Spirit, or they have become stubborn and refused to believe in what
they cannot physically see. To make matters worse, they have come to love the
darkness of this world in its words and actions and want to trust in their own
wisdom rather than the Lord’s. Sadly, they have grieved the Holy Spirit to the
point that he no longer reaches out to them or touches their hearts to gently
call them to God.
Christians know that they have been sealed for
the day of redemption by the Holy Spirit. We know this, because God has given
us the Holy Spirit to live within us and to guide and comfort us daily.
Moreover, we know that when we die we will leave our physical bodies and
exchange them for “… an eternal body made for us by God Himself and not by human hands. (As
Christians) We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long for the day when we
will put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will not be spirits
without bodies, but we will put on new heavenly bodies. Our dying bodies make
us groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and have no bodies at all.
We want to slip into our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be
swallowed up by everlasting life. God Himself has prepared us for this, and as
a guarantee He has given us His Holy Spirit… That is why we live by
believing and not by seeing.” --
(II Corinthians 5: 1-5, 7. NLT).
This
is why the Apostle Paul also tells Christians “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of
God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness and
wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all
malice.
Be kind to one another,
tender-hearted forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven
you.
Therefore, be
imitators of God, as beloved children: and walk in love, just as Christ
also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God
as a fragrant aroma.
But immorality or any
impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper for the
saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting,
which are not fitting but rather giving of thanks.
For this you know with a
certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an
idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” -- (Ephesians 4: 30-31, 5:
1-5. NASB).
Christians
are to be imitators of God. If a person cannot walk in the ways of the Christ
and the Heavenly Father, we must question if they are really a child of God.
For, God wants His children to be lighthouses to the world, living in the light
of God and shining the light of Christ on the world, i.e. showing others the
way to safety and Salvation which leads to eternity with God. Moreover, the
Holy Spirit living within us not only assures us of our Salvation, but
born-again Christians live in submission to Him, so that as He prompts us to do
the right things, we immediately respond to Him in obedience.
Are
you responding to Christ in obedience to Him? Are you living an honest,
trustworthy, integrity light filled life for Christ so that others can see
Christ in you? Are you eternity bound? If not, perhaps you need to focus on
living for Christ. Or perhaps you need to ask Christ to come into your heart
through your repentance of your sins? If you want to live for Christ and be
forgiven of your sins, just call out to Him in truth and honesty. Tell Christ
that you want to be forgiven your sins and that you repent of all your
sinfulness. Christ will hear you and you will be saved! Then tell someone that
you have been saved and find a church where you can follow through with God’s commandment
to be baptized by immersion. Following Christ in baptism shows your obedience
to Him and tells the world that you are indeed a child of God’s. Then, it is
time to listen to the Holy Spirit that is now within you and live exemplifying
God’s virtues, values, and love. Also teach your children about God and Jesus
Christ, so that they one day can make a decision on their own to ask Christ
into their heart. Also teach them about right and wrong and show them that
stealing and coveting are wrong. You can be the light for the next generation
to see Christ in you.
If you are interested in Active Relational Christian Mentoring, please look for my book entitled The Three-Strand Cord of Active Relational Christian Mentoring on Amazon, at Barnes and Nobel, at INGRAM, iTunes, Google Play and Christian Faith Publishing. Please check out my webpage at:
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