“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” -- Mahatma Gandhi

II Timothy 3:1-5 “You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!”

Most people spend time each morning deciding what to wear and checking ourselves in a mirror before walking out to make sure our appearance is as we would have it. Unfortunately, most of us don’t spend more time considering how we “appear” to others based on the way we carry ourselves and the way we act. It can clearly be our intention to follow our Savior Jesus; the problem is, it doesn’t come naturally. What comes ‘naturally’ is living like the rest of the world. Christ is such a polarizing and intriguing figure in history because he was so unlike anyone else. The way he spoke, the way he acted, the things he did and the things he taught set him apart from every other figure before and after. How can we then hope to imitate such a unique individual without making a conscious effort to do so? Church, when practiced enough, become instinctive. That is not how Christ lived. He lived intentionally. When we became disciples, we gained the power to be more than religious. But using that power is not instinctive. Sadly, Gandhi’s statement is right far more often than it is wrong. What will you do to change the world’s perception?

Pray: Heavenly Father, I do not want to live instinctively – but rather I need to learn to live deliberately. While love, compassion, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and so many other “apps” are instinctive for you because they are your nature, they are not so for me. Until I learn to live by and trust the nature I inherited from you when I first believed, help me to live intentionally. Keep me ever mindful of my Lord Jesus and what he would do in any given situation. In his mighty and blessed name I ask these things – Amen