Royal Robes

On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, in front of the king’s quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace. And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. Esther 5:1-2

Esther’s people were in peril. The king’s highest official had just convinced the king to sign a decree that would wipe out the entire Jewish population. The edict was carried to all the king’s provinces “with instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day” (Esther 3:13). When Esther’s uncle found out, he sat at the entrance of the king’s gate in sackcloth and ashes, a visible sign of his mourning and deep distress for his people. He relayed the news to Esther and begged her to go before the king and intervene for her people.

Esther did not immediately go to the king. She was understandably frightened. She knew that if she went into the king’s court (even as the queen) without receiving his favor, the only thing that awaited her was death (Esther 4:11). After more advice from her uncle and three days of prayer and fasting, Esther put on her royal robes and went to the king.

We too are in great danger of perishing, but our peril is because of our own sin. Our only hope to escape the certain death we deserve for breaking God’s law is to approach the King on his throne and ask for mercy. But we cannot enter wearing our own clothes. We must approach him properly dressed.

Queen Esther did not approach the king wearing her everyday attire; she came in her royal robes. This was not only to honor the king but also to remind him of her status before she made her request.

When we try to approach God on our own, we are like the lowest peasant coming before him in filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Our sin makes us unclean, and no amount of work we do can clean ourselves up. To approach the King of the universe, we must first be dressed in royal robes. But we cannot obtain these ourselves, nor can we earn them; they must be earned and bestowed upon us by someone else—someone who is royalty and has earned the right to the royal robes. This person is Jesus Christ.

Not only is Christ divinely royal because he is God, but he also lived a perfect life of no sin when he came to earth as a man, thereby accomplishing the perfect righteousness that we could not achieve. When we repent of our sins and place our faith in him (a faith that is itself a gift—Ephesians 2:8), he gives us his royal robes of righteousness to wear as our own in exchange for our filthy rags, which he placed on himself when he died on the cross. God saw those polluted garments on his Son and poured out his wrath against the sin that stained them, as if Christ were the one who committed our lawless deeds.

Without this royal clothing, we only have the fear of death when we approach the throne, because God is so holy and pure that anyone polluted with sin is not allowed in his presence. But Christ has won us favor in God’s sight through his payment for our sin. Now with the royal robes of Christ placed on us, God is pleased when he sees us, and he extends the golden scepter of acceptance and welcome to us. Because of Christ, we can boldly enter the King’s court without fear but as his sons and daughters, crying “Abba” or “daddy” (Hebrews 4:16; Romans 8:15).

We all must face the King of the universe someday—either when we die or when Christ returns to earth. Will you try to face him on your own merit in filthy rags? Or will you see your need for cleansing, admit you can’t do it yourself, and ask Christ, who died for you, to take away your rags and place his royal robe of righteousness on you? If you have never asked him to do that, I pray you would today.

This article was originally published at https://lifeword.org/blog/from-filthy-rags-to-royal-robes-esthers-story-and-ours/

Letters to My Children: He Knows You By Name

To My Children,

We all want to feel special and be recognized as important. The other day, you told me about a video game you were playing and how one of the people you were playing with was a gamer on social media who gave your gamer tag a shout out on one of his videos. That was the most excited I’ve seen you in a long time! What I think was so exciting about it was someone you thought was special, important, and a “big name” noticed you, and that made you feel special and important.

As cool as that is, I want you to know that someone even more important and special and who has the “name that is above every name” (Philippians 2:9) notices you every single day and thinks you are special—in fact, he made you that way.

God, the greatest and most important person in the whole universe, knows your name and knows everything about you. The Bible says he notices every tiny sparrow, one of the smallest, most common birds around, and he cares and provides for each one. It goes on to say that as much as God notices and cares for these tiny birds, he notices and cares for us even more! We are more valuable and special to God than a sparrow. He pays such close attention to us that he even knows how many hairs are on our head and all of our thoughts before they ever come out of our mouths. He made our inward parts and chose how we would look—what color hair, eyes, and skin we would have, how tall we would be, what time, town, and culture we would live in—and he gives us the very breath we breathe each day. So we never have to wonder if we are special to him or if he notices us.

We would probably all get excited if a celebrity we liked passed us on the sidewalk and said our name or if our favorite music artist pulled us up on stage with them during a concert. How much more exciting is it that our God who made everything in existence and holds creation together with the word of his mouth made you, knows you by name, and says you are special to him? I hope you know that being known and loved by God is the best, most exciting and wonderful thing in the world.

I love you. Grow in godliness and in your love for God.

This article was originally published at https://lifeword.org/marriage-and-family/known-by-god/

Missed Opportunity

Have you ever missed an opportunity?

I think about when I buy two pairs of shoes, and then the next day they go on sale as buy one, get one free. Or the coupon you find in your wallet for a free pizza, but the expiration date has already passed. Or what about the invitation to a friend’s party that got sent to your junk email? Or the house for sale that someone made an offer on before you could make one.

These are all missed opportunities that neither make nor break us. But what about the really important opportunities, like the opportunity to tell someone about Jesus?

Peter knew about missed opportunities. He had three chances to tell people about the Savior of the world, and instead he denied Christ each time. I imagine the sorrow and regret he felt as “he went out and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:62) and how much it must have haunted him after Christ’s death on the cross. But after Christ rose from the dead and strengthened his disciples with his appearance, Peter didn’t miss another chance.

In Acts Chapter 2, we read that Peter preached a bold sermon at Pentecost after the giving of the Holy Spirit. He no longer worried about what people might think of him, and he certainly didn’t mince words or tiptoe around the gospel:

This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. (Acts 2:23–24)

He wasn’t afraid to call out sin. He wasn’t fearful of sounding foolish for proclaiming resurrection from the dead, although not everyone believed in such a thing. He wasn’t hateful, mean, or self-righteous; he simply spoke the truth:

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. . . . Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:36, 38)

And three thousand people were “cut to the heart” by his message, repented of their sins, believed in Christ, and were saved (2:37–41).

Later, we see Peter taking advantage of another opportunity to witness about Christ. After healing the lame beggar by the power of the Holy Spirit, there was a giant commotion in Solomon’s portico. People wondered how a man who had been unable to walk for more than forty years was suddenly “walking and leaping and praising God” (3:8). Peter didn’t shy away or simply join in the amazement—he spoke:

The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied . . . you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong . . . the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. (Acts 3:13–16, 19–20, emphasis added)

And when he spoke, at least five thousand people heard it and believed in Christ (4:4). Something had changed in Peter. He no longer worried about what his neighbors would think of him; he no longer worried about what the leaders of the town would do to him. In fact, he was even put in prison for proclaiming the resurrection of the dead in Jesus’ name (4:1–3)! But Peter didn’t care; he no longer missed an opportunity to speak about his beloved Lord and Savior.

Even when examined by the group of political and religious leaders who had put him in prison, Peter no longer cowered in fear. He didn’t have anxiety about offending anyone, and he didn’t fret about what might further happen to him. He simply took the opportunity to speak the truth and left the results up to God:

Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:10–12)

If we are honest, we have often been like the pre-crucifixion Peter when presented with an opportunity to share our faith in Christ. I think about the woman in the dentist waiting room who complimented my sweatshirt which read, “I am not my own but belong body and soul in life and death to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.” What a softball I had thrown at me! Later, I thought about how I could have easily said, “Do you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior?” Instead, I just said, “Thank you.” What a missed opportunity.

Thankfully and mercifully, because we are forgiven in Christ, God doesn’t wag his finger at us in disappointment (although we may feel conviction from the Holy Spirit) or punish us for being unfaithful servants; he gives us more opportunities.

It is important that we take those opportunities because “there is salvation in no one else” but Christ (4:12). Think about it. Without ever being told about repentance of sins and salvation and forgiveness in Christ, people are perishing. They would not belong body and soul to a faithful Savior who is able to keep them in this life until they reach eternal life in heaven; their body and soul will end up in eternal torment in hell. And if someone hadn’t taken the opportunity to tell us about Jesus, there we would be too. Praise the Lord that whoever told us about Jesus did not waste their chance!

Now let us put aside whatever fears and worries we have about our reputation, losing friends, losing jobs, being ostracized—or whatever our fear may be—and, like Peter and John, be people who “cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (4:20). People all around us need the life-giving message of the gospel of Christ. Will you boldly take your next opportunity?

This article was originally published at https://lifeword.org/blog/missed-opportunity/

Letters to My Children: Making Hard Decisions

To My Children,

You’re reaching the point in life where you are going to have make tough decisions. By “tough,” I don’t mean bad—I simply mean they are bigger decisions than you’ve had to make before, which means bigger implications for your life. Decisions about if you will go to college, where you will go to college, what kind of career path to follow, who you will marry (if you decide to get married), where to live, etc. These types of decisions can feel overwhelming because they are shaping your future. There’s fear of making the wrong choice. So how do you decide?

First, examine through study and prayer if your choice would be violating a clear command or principle of Scripture. A command is when God says Do this, or Don’t do that. Think, “Don’t lie” or “Love your neighbor.” Principles are godly patterns of wisdom we see in the Bible. Think, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man” (Proverbs 6:10–11). If your choice would go against God’s commandments, then you should definitely not do it because you would be in sin. If it goes against a principle, while it wouldn’t necessarily be sin, you should be severely cautious about doing it as you may start to stray off the path of God’s Word.

Some practical examples of this in decision-making would be: if you’re thinking about who you should marry, and you know the Bible says do not be unequally yoked with an unbeliever (2 Corinthians 6:14), then marrying someone who doesn’t believe in Christ as their Savior should be out of the question. If you’re trying to decide between two colleges—one really expensive one and the other less expensive—and you know God wants us to be good stewards of the money he has given us (or of your parents’ money), which choice would be wiser? The one that will immediately put you in thousands of dollars of debt upon graduation, or the one that you could work to pay for while you are in school? Neither one of those choices is inherently sinful, but there is wisdom from the Word to consider.

Secondly, will the choice help you grow to become more like Christ? Part of the Christian life is sanctification—growing in maturity of faith to the full stature of Christ, or becoming less like the world and more like Jesus (Ephesians 4:13–14; Romans 12:2). A practical example of using this to help you make decisions would be in choosing which school to go to or where to live for your job. Does the school you want to attend or the city where you want to take a job have a healthy, gospel-preaching church nearby that can disciple you and help you grow and stay strong in your faith? Or would you be isolating yourself from the fellowship of believers who can help spur you on to love and good works (Hebrews 10:24–25). That may be the last thing people think about when they make choices like these (if they even think about it at all), but it is extremely important.

Another thing to consider is: Have you sought godly wisdom from older, trusted Christians? Remember my last letter about listening to advice? They may have lots of life experience and spiritual wisdom to impart from years of doing the very things you are seeking to do. Learn from them.

Finally, and most importantly, remember in all your decisions, that God is sovereign. “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps” (Proverbs 16:9). He will take you where he wants you to go, to the people he wants you to meet, and fulfill the plans he has for you, all with his good for you in mind. You can’t mess this up. Even when people in the Bible made bad choices (or had choices made for them that they couldn’t control), God’s purposes were never challenged or changed. So you are free to decide and trust the outcome to God. “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:6).

I love you. Grow in godliness and in your love for God.

This article was originally published at https://lifeword.org/blog/letters-to-my-children-making-hard-decisions/

Letters to My Children: Listening to Advice (Part 2)

To My Children,

 In my last letter, we began talking about the reasons Scripture gives for why we should listen to wise counsel and advice. The first reason was the danger of being right in our own eyes. The second was similar: the positive descriptions Proverbs gives of those who listen to wisdom and instruction, and the negative description of those who don’t.

Scripture also talks about the wisdom that is found in an abundance of counselors instead of only listening to yourself or one other person. Proverbs 11:14 says, “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors, there is safety.” And Proverbs 15:22 says, “Without counsel, plans fail, but with many advisers, they succeed.” When we isolate ourselves from godly counsel because we only want our desires and don’t want anyone telling us what to do or getting in the way of those desires, Proverbs says we break out against all sound judgment (18:1).

Not only is there safety in many counselors, it is even better if they are older and more experienced than us. King Rehoboam listened to the advice of all his young friends over the counsel of the learned and advanced-in-years men of the kingdom who had served his father, and he came to ruin (1 Kings 12:1–24)!

Lastly, Proverbs ensures us there is great blessing in listening to wise and godly counsel. “The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life” and keeps you out of trouble (13:14). Wisdom is better than gold and silver (16:16) and is health for your soul (24:13–14). The path of your life will be protected and peaceful (3:1–2), and you will find favor and success in the eyes of God and man (3:4).

So, my children, when you face a situation in your life that requires a decision or action, or you feel unsure what to do about something, seek godly counsel. Don’t try to make the decision on your own based on your feelings. And if an older, wiser, godly person (especially a parent) specifically comes to you about an area of your life they think needs counsel, don’t blow them off or tune them out. Don’t assume you have it all figured out or that you don’t need advice. And never think that you don’t need the Word of the Lord in your life!

There is great wisdom in being humble enough to admit you don’t know everything and that you might need some help making choices. There is great benefit in listening to the counsel of those who have gone before you, who desire for you to live a godly life and skip some of the mistakes they made and have learned from. We were not made to be islands, so don’t go at it alone.

I love you. Grow in godliness and in your love for God

This article was originally published at https://lifeword.org/blog/letters-to-my-children-listening-to-advice-part-2/

Letters to My Children: Listening to Advice (Part 1)

To My Children,

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7).

When we are young, it is easy to think we have it all figured out. It is tempting to want to run our lives without any advice or counsel from others, especially not from older people, and especially not from our parents! When we are young, it is also easy to think no one has ever been through what we are going through and no one understands what it’s like to face what we’re facing. Our parents’ experiences seem antiquated compared to what our generation is dealing with. We often immediately dismiss them as unrelatable.

We want to do what we want. We don’t want other people telling us what to do. We think our desires and experiences are all there is to know and always right. When our parents try to talk to us, we can be quick to slough off their advice. But the Bible tells us there are four main reasons we should listen to the counsel of those who have more wisdom and experience than us.

First, Scripture warns us about the dangers of being right in our own eyes. Proverbs 3:7 says, “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil.” Similarly, Proverbs 26:12 says, “Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” In the book of Judges, there came a time when everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Because of that, the nation of Israel was constantly in trouble and oppressed by other nations until God would send a wise judge to rescue them.

When we think we are the determiner of what’s right and need no other counsel than our own, we are being prideful, and pride comes before a fall. Too often we think, “I’ve got this,” when we don’t, and then go tumbling headlong into a problem we didn’t see coming—all because we wouldn’t listen to anyone else. “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice” (Proverbs 12:15).

Next, Proverbs contrasts those who listen to advice versus those who don’t. Whoever listens to instruction is on the path to life (10:17), is prudent (15:5), will dwell among the wise and gain intelligence (15:31–32), will discover good (19:8), will have a future, a hope, and a treasure (24:14; 25:11–12), and the list goes on. Proverbs 22:17–18 says, “Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge, for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips.”

Conversely, those who do not listen to wise counsel will come to ruin (10:8), lead others astray (10:17), are fools and scoffers (15:5, 12), despise themselves (15:32), stray from knowledge (19:27), and lead themselves to death (13:4; 16:25; 21:16).

We will save the final two reasons for my next letter.

I love you. Grow in godliness and in your love for God.

This article was originally published at https://lifeword.org/blog/letters-to-my-children-listening-to-advice-part-1/

Letters to My Children: Teen Purity (Part 2)

To My Children,

“Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity” (1 Timothy 5:1–2).

As we talked about in my last letter, physical purity is so much more than saving yourself for marriage. Purity has to do with not stirring up or awakening desires in yourself or others that are only supposed to be fulfilled in marriage—and that doesn’t just mean sex. Purity has a lot to do with the intention of the heart. Here’s what I mean:

If you desire to love your neighbor, as the second greatest commandment requires, you will want to do them good and not harm; you will be looking out for their interests and not just your own. Here’s how that applies to purity: you will be watching out for your neighbor, desiring, so far as it depends on you, to not lead them down a dangerous path of temptation or sin. You will desire to protect their heart and emotions from getting entangled in things they are not ready for. Paul tells Timothy to treat younger women as sisters and older women as mothers, in all purity. Likewise, we can apply this principle in reverse: women can treat young men as brothers and older men as fathers, in all purity. Some of the definitions of pure include, “free from dirt, taint, or what pollutes; free from moral fault or guilt; marked by chastity; containing nothing that does not properly belong.” To treat people in all purity means that your relationships with others should not include anything that doesn’t properly belong to that kind of relationship.

Physical and emotional desires and intimacies that occur within marriage do not properly belong to any other kind of relationship. Loving your neighbor and treating others in all purity means you do not try to stir up those kinds of emotions or responses in them. This includes our in-person interactions as well as our phone conversations and messages. Do you like someone? Do you think you might like to marry them someday? Then look out for their best interests and do not awaken love until it pleases, or until the time is right for marriage (Song of Solomon 8:4).

Purity goes much farther than our outward, physical actions. It gets down to the intention of our heart. You may be physically restraining yourself from sexual impurity, but do you desire holiness in your heart? Or are you inwardly wishing you could do those things God forbids and cursing his good laws in your mind? Do you desire the good of your neighbor? Do you want what God says is best for them, and do you seek to protect their purity? Or do you just wish to have your desires fulfilled on your terms? Doing things God’s way and in God’s timing is always best for you and the people around you. It may look drastically different from how the rest of the world is doing things, especially in dating and romantic interests, but there is great blessing in following God in how we act in our relationships. Remember, God calls us to be holy because he is holy.

I love you. Grow in godliness and in your love for God.

This article was originally published at https://lifeword.org/blog/letters-to-my-children-teen-purity-part-2/

Letters to My Children: Teen Purity (Part 1)

To My Children,

When I was a teenager, there was a popular program being taught to youth groups called True Love Waits. It taught about God’s design for sex to be within marriage and emphasized the blessings of waiting till you were married to enjoy these benefits and the dangers of not waiting. While this is good and right, many teens walked away from that teaching (or similar ones) thinking that as long as they didn’t have sex before they were married, then everything was fine—they had achieved the golden standard of purity. But purity is so much more than saving sex for marriage.

If you’re like most teens, your skin is already starting to crawl at the thought of your parents talking to you about this stuff. But there is great benefit and blessing in hanging in there and considering these things seriously. Yes, I’m going to talk a little bit about the physical (in PG terms, of course), but I’m also going to go beyond the surface and talk about the heart.

When it comes to physical purity, the goal is not to get as close to the line as you can get without crossing it. Any activity where there is touching or exposing of parts that should remain covered in public is out of the question. But it’s not just activities like that. There are many physical temptations out there that come before you get to the act of sex. It’s not usually a zero-to-sixty-in-three-seconds kind of a deal. Hugging or hand-holding may not be a temptation to some, but for others it is, and it always has the potential to be so—especially when there is prolonged physical contact. Again, you don’t normally go from no physical contact to sex—things tend to start small and gradually increase over time as familiarity and desire begin to grow. Even those seemingly small actions of holding hands or kissing can awaken in us desires that were under the surface.  

Awakening those desires before you’re allowed to act on them (in marriage) leads to all kinds of trouble—either desire gives birth to sin as you give in to those temptations, or you needlessly torment yourself by awakening desires that cannot be fulfilled but now must be battled. That is why the bride in Song of Solomon speaks the refrain to her unmarried friends, “I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases,” or until the time is right (Song of Solomon 8:4). The passion and desire that a human being can feel for another person is nothing to mess around with—“for love is as strong as death, [ardor] is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it” (Song 8:6b–7a). If you cannot act on your physical desires within the safe boundaries of marriage, there is a warning here not to do anything that would stir up those desires before the time is right to fulfill them. And that advice even extends to our conversations.

This is why Paul tells Timothy to treat younger women as sisters and older women as mothers, in all purity (1 Timothy 5:2). We will talk more about heart motives and looking out for our brothers and sisters in Christ in my next letter.

I love you. Grow in godliness and in your love for God.

This article was originally published at https://lifeword.org/blog/letters-to-my-children-teen-purity-part-1/

Joy vs. Sorrow

“For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law” (Nehemiah 8:9).

The Israelites had returned home from exile in Babylon; the wall around Jerusalem had been rebuilt under the supervision of Nehemiah. All the people gathered to hear the Book of the Law read aloud. It should have been a time of great rejoicing. And yet the people mourned and wept as they heard God’s Words.

They knew they had disobeyed. They knew they could never measure up. And so they wept.

Who could remove their burden? Was anyone coming to save them? They were no longer exiled slaves, but they were trapped by the weight of their sin.

Fast-forward four-hundred years of waiting. Silence. Still, no one had come to rescue them. The people sat in darkness.

And then, light broke onto the scene.

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone” (Isaiah 9:2).

Jesus Christ, the Light of the World came down. The angel announced the joy of his birth. The wisemen rejoiced exceedingly with great joy when they saw his star. Finally, Messiah had come.

Fast forward two-thousand years.

We too may feel trapped or in bondage.

We too may feel like no one is coming to help us.

We too may feel the weight of our sin—the mourning and weeping that comes with knowing we can never measure up to God’s perfect commands; the sorrow that comes from failing so many times.

But lift up your heads, those who mourn and weep. Lift up your eyes, those who are sorrowful. For joy has dawned on the horizon, breaking the darkness with its rays of light.

Jesus was born to redeem us from the gloom and grief of our own sin. If we confess our sins and receive forgiveness in his name, we no longer have to mourn and weep over our failures. Christ was born to perfectly keep God’s law for us. If we place our faith in him, the law that once weighed us down can now be our delight (Psalm 119:174); our hearts can be glad and our whole being can rejoice in our Savior, for our sins are taken away.

No more sadness. No more gloom. No more guilt.

Only rejoicing.

“Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!” (Psalm 32:11).

Weeping may tarry for the night, but in the presence of Emmanuel, there is fullness of joy.

 

This article was originally published at https://lifeword.org/blog/joy-v-sorrow/

Letters to My Children: Be Salt and Light

To My Children,

As you begin to interact more with the world, you are going to encounter people who think differently than you, believe differently than you, and some who are even hostile to God and living according to his Word. I want you to know how to move among them without turning them off to Christ but also without compromising what you believe.

First, if you claim to be a believer in Jesus Christ, you are light. People are automatically watching you if you profess his name because they want to see if your walk matches your talk—in other words, if the way you live your life lines up with what you say you believe.

Jesus says you are the light of the world, like a city set on a hill for all to see (Matthew 5:14–16). As one who professes Christ, and therefore godliness, you should adorn yourself with good works so that when people see how kind, thoughtful, and servant-hearted you are, they will glorify God because there is consistency in what you practice and what you preach.

Jesus teaches us to be kind to people even if they are not kind to us. Do not try to retaliate if you are picked on, made fun of, or misjudged. Love your neighbors and your enemies. Leave justice and vengeance up to God. Be generous and give to the people around you without expecting anything in return. Practice the golden rule. And as far as it depends on you, be at peace with everyone.

That doesn’t mean you should never stand up for God’s truth. Another part of being a believer in an unbelieving world is being salt.

Jesus says you are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13). Salt is pure. Do not compromise what you believe or make Christ look distasteful—don’t lose you saltiness—by participating in the wicked works of darkness that unbelievers practice such as sexual immorality, crude or sensual joking, gossip, slander, drunkenness, strife, fits of anger, rivalries, jealousy, etc. Keep God’s commands.

Salt is pure, but it is also healing. In your dealings with the world around you, stay pure and speak truth while doing it in love. When we must stand up for God’s Word, we want to do it graciously so that our words can give life to those who hear instead of being combative and tearing them down. Remember the fruit of the Spirit: be kind, loving, gentle, patient, peaceful, always exhibiting faithfulness, goodness, joy, and self-control.

There is a hurting and dying world out there who needs the healing and life that Jesus brings. Be winsome in your interactions with them and speak of salvation in Christ’s name as often as you are given opportunity so that some of them might know him too and become salt and light.

I love you. Grow in godliness and in your love for God.

This article was originally published at https://lifeword.org/blog/letters-to-my-children-be-salt-and-light/