Will We Honor God Or People?
We are surrounded by people trying to appear to be something they are not. Honesty and integrity stand out because there is so much hypocrisy in our culture today. Authenticity is what God is asking of us and not just with each other but also with Him.
Do we desire God’s approval more than the approval of people?
Hypocrisy is an old acting term that means pretending to be what you’re not. So often we want people to see an image of who we are instead of the real thing. Identity is so easily lost when we go hunting for the next attempt at discovering ourselves by what we do, or who we spend time with when people are watching.
Psalm 119:9 How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word.
I believe one of the reasons we have struggled so much with bigotry and racism throughout history is because we want t o please people more than God. We want the approval of others, so we look at people as us and them, me and mine and you and yours. Over and over God makes it clear through His word that our true identity can only be found in Christ Jesus.
1 Corinthians 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Galatians 3:27-28 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me
. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Living a life of integrity takes spiritual maturity because what is right is often unpopular. Will we live to please God the sacred cows of our culture?
What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through these scriptures?
