Bradley's Blessings

So, yesterday was Sunday, and you know what that means...I received another insightful message at church that I feel compelled to share with you today. I'm going to start calling these posts of mine that are inspired by my Pastor as Bradley's Blessings.

Sunday's message was about a subject that I've talked about a lot over the years with my friends but have never spoken about publicly. I'm kind of a "tread-lightly-without-offending-anyone" type of person. I'm a firm believer in acceptance. It is not my place to judge you. As a Christian, I feel that I am a representative of Christ and because of that, I should strive to conduct myself and treat others the way Christ would have conducted himself and treated others. 

Something that I will be working on for the remainder of my life. :)

Woah! I can already hear some of you saying stuff like, "But as a Christian you're supposed to lead people to God. You're supposed to spread the news and tell everyone you see about Him. You'll never grow as a Christian if you don't fight for Him..." and I agree with these statements.

I know that God wants us to tell people about Him. He wants us to share our testimonies with people and tell them how God has worked in our lives and how He has changed us for the better. But I think some people misunderstand this and end up pushing people further away from God in the process. Telling people about Jesus isn't "a high pressure sale," nor are "we meant to be political activists." Just because I'm a Christian doesn't mean I think I'm better than you if you're not. I don't look down on you. I don't judge you. I'm not going to stand outside a soldier's funeral with picket signs, or bomb an abortion clinic, or burn Korans.

Jesus would NEVER do those things!

If you really want to reach people then you have to get to their hearts. You have to love them, and you have to mean it, even if you don't agree with the way they live or the things they do. And not in a "I love you because I have to because Jesus loves you!" kind of way. Jesus loved/s the unlovable. Jesus loved/s the people that no one else would associate with and He did it without judgement...even though He's the only one who can judge us.

There is a quote, "Your actions speak so loud, I can’t hear what you’re saying."  If what we do doesn't reflect what we say or believe then why would anyone listen to us? 

We have to learn how to practice what we preach and how to accept and welcome people who are different than us. But most of all, we need to remember that we are representatives of Christ and we need to conduct ourselves as such.

"Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit." Matthew 12:33

♥Jurney Eve