My Journey of Faith
Desire to live godly Even If Appearance Contradicts
After coming to faith in Christ, Moses went to see his brethren and, in a turn of events, killed an Egyptian. Coming to faith and committing murder don't seem compatible because they're not. Yet both are true about Moses.
After coming to faith in Christ, I remained stagnant so that my testimony could be as confusing as that of Moses. The Gospel clarifies the way of salvation, including repentance and faith. Repentance is that element of turning from sin, which, of course, is a lifelong endeavor by the grace of God.
Coming to Christ regenerates the soul and gives the person of faith a desire to live holy. Throughout my years in high school, which was in the 1960s, there was more than enough temptation to live an ungodly existence because of the friends I acquired. However, I could not bring myself to do some of the things they were doing, and when I mentioned the Bible on one occasion, that was the end of those friends.
Not many years later, sin caught up with me, which, to some, made it hard for them to reconcile my newfound faith and the presence of sin in my life. Nevertheless, to others, I was forgiven, restored to God, and actively seeking God.
Desire to Live Godly Inwardly and It Will Be Revealed
In the picture to your left is Sheila, a woman we knew in the early 1970s. After a hard life of drug abuse, she gave her life to Christ. My wife and Sheila became fast friends; Jean walked with her through kidney surgery, which in those days was quite the ordeal. What I remember most about Sheila was her desire to learn about her faith in Christ.
It wasn't very long before she became terminally ill, and Jean walked with her through the valley of the shadow of death also. During those days, as it has always been, Jean, as a partner, has come alongside so many people, befriended them, and praised God with faith and a contagious type of joy. I wanted to share so much with her on one occasion, but it was undeniable that she only had ears for Jean.
It was during those days that I first became aware of people who understood the grace of God that can cover a multitude of sins and people who are in the church so long that they lose a true sense of the Gospel message. The Apostle Peter made this clear when he told us the need to grow in godly character and apprehend and maintain the Gospel of forgiveness. He said in 1 Peter 1:9, "For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins." This forgetfulness is a form of Phariseeism, a religious hardening of the heart because of conceit and pride.
All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted
When writing to Timothy, Paul told him the same as our heading. I worked as a driving instructor during those early days in the faith. Partly because I figured it would give me a captive audience for sharing the Gospel. There were many opportunities, and I seized upon them.
However, on one occasion, I shared my faith with the owner's son, they being Jewish. The son and the father ganged up on me after trumping up a charge against me that I was supposedly stealing. In reality, I had blocked time off to go to Bible School on Monday evenings. The wonderful thing about being fired, losing your job and your car, being followed down a busy and crowded Brooklyn street while being cursed at for being a Christian, the accusations were quite something. A verse that immediately came to mind and filled my soul with joy was Acts 5:41, "So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name."
I was beginning to become acquainted with shame, which is good when it is for doing good. Peter said in 1 Peter 2:20, "For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer [for it] you patiently endure it, this [finds] favor with God."
The most hurtful side of doing what is right becomes apparent when some brethren understand what you are going through and treat you with compassion, while others, in so many words, act as though it must have been your fault. The Christian life, in so many ways, is a life of forgiveness. To desire to live godly in a fallen and wicked world and worldly church culture is anything but easy.
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