1 Timothy 1:16 (ESV) — 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
NOTE: We are all examples. None of us deserved the salvation we received. We are all unworthy. And so, we are all examples of God's mercy to someone. That is the idea of being a witness. God has shown me grace and mercy. God has shown each of us grace and mercy. But if we don't live a changed life, what good is the grace and mercy that was given us? You can't be a witness if you have not changed. How do we change? We change by APPLICATION of the Word of God to our life. This is so key to our witness -- the change that is continuing to occur in our life. But that requires obedience to the word, and that requires SPECIFIC application. You just cannot say "I will be a better husband" or "I will serve others more" or "I will be more loving" -- it WON"T happen! An application MUST be specific or you are just fooling yourself as James writes in his letter. The problem in the church today is that we do not look very different from those outside of the church. We have Jesus but no one can see Jesus because we are not allowing Jesus to change us. We are not applying (obeying) the Word of God.
PRAYER: Father, open our eyes to the need for real change. I pray we would stop playing "church." We will never change just attending meetings. We need to be doers of the word and not hearers only. Open our eyes to this life-changing truth.
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