We Share Christ by the Way We Live

A young man who’d grown up in an abusive home once observed: “I looked at my parents who by their example gave me a distorted image of God; I never had the example of someone with skin on who loves me.” People around us desperately need someone who will give them a healthy picture of God. They need someone “with skin on” who will demonstrate godly qualities.

Our most powerful sermon is often simply the way we live. Before a person cares how much you know, they must know how much you care. Peter urges us:

“LIVE SUCH GOOD LIVES among the pagans [non-Christians] that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, THEY MAY SEE YOUR GOOD DEEDS AND GLORIFY GOD on the day he visits us. . . . To this you were called, because CHRIST SUFFERED FOR YOU, LEAVING YOU AN EXAMPLE, THAT YOU SHOULD FOLLOW IN HIS STEPS.”
—1 Peter 2:12, 21.

Since “Christ suffered” for us at Calvary, we have an example of sacrificial love very close at hand. That love, reproduced in us as loving acts to others, can become a powerful force drawing unbelievers into the arms of Christ.