What Do Others See? by Martin Wiles

What others see is often more than the person himself sees. 

“I think God’s calling you to be a preacher.” He was the chairman of deacons at the church my father pastored when he softly spoke those words. I was a fairly new church member and a recent acquaintance of his, but he observed what I didn’t. “I hear you’re leaving for college to study to be a preacher.” She was a co-worker who had no way of knowing what I was contemplating. She was also able to observe what I didn’t plainly view at the moment. Ultimately, they were right. They noticed what God was doing long before I did. 

Joseph’s life must have seemed like the pits. Hated by his brothers because of his dreams of grandeur and perhaps cocky attitude, they sold him to a wandering band of traders who in turn cascaded him to Egypt and sold him to one of the king’s officials. Joseph surely didn’t know God was using these incidents to later save his family from destruction. Perhaps he even thought God had abandoned him, but a pagan official noticed that God hadn’t. Potiphar noticed this and realized that the Lord was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did. (Genesis 39:3 NLT)

That God lives in me should be abundantly evident to others. Just as a preacher can’t hide the fact that he is, so I can’t disguise that I’m a Christ follower. My identity should be as plain as Joseph’s was. Along with God’s forgiveness and a new nature come different attitudes, moral actions, and a different perspective on life. God’s Spirit now resides in me and forms my character into something it wasn’t before. Integrity and godliness blossom. My inside is so radically different that others can’t help but glimpse it on the outside. 

What are your actions and attitudes demonstrating to others?

Prayer: Thank You Father for so radically changing us on the inside that it can’t help but show on our outside. 

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