“Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it—not with ink, but with God’s living Spirit; not chiseled into stone, but carved into human lives—and we publish it.” (II Corinthians 3:3)
Thoughts… Having a great job or getting into an upper tier college in America these days means having to have an impressive resume along with a list of personal references that will stand up for you and your abilities with letters of recommendation that make you look like a cross between Albert Einstein and Mother Teresa. People want proof that you are who you claim to be and that you can do what you say you can do.
But did you ever think about the fact that you yourself are somebody’s resume? That’s what Paul says. When so many other ministers were bragging about themselves and getting letters of reference sent on their behalf, all Paul had to do was point to the people he was shepherding and say, “Take a look at their lives. They’ll tell you a lot about the depth of my character and the quality of my ministry.”
What was true for Paul is true for your shepherd, or the person who is disciplining you today, or the person who led you to Christ so many years ago. And if that is the case, what does their resume look like? What kind of letter of recommendation do you provide for them? If they were depending on a job based on the spiritual fruit being produced in your life, would they be hired?
Every Christian is a living resume for a spiritual leader. We just cannot escape that fact. We give the ministry under which we are shepherded credibility…or not. But more importantly, every believer is a living resume for our loving Redeemer. May we so live our lives each and every day that others will want to follow Christ because they see the real deal in us.
Prayer... Father, my greatest desire is that I will make the Gospel of Jesus Christ appealing by the fruit in my life. Help me this day, and every day, to be your living letter, drawing people to you by the compelling story told by my life.
One More Thing… “Character in a saint means the disposition of Jesus Christ persistently manifested.” —Oswald Chambers
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