Cloaked With Christianity

Let’s face it. We all begin our Christian walk with excess baggage: all the garbage and negativity from our old, worldly life. Unfortunately, many believers never take the time to shed the baggage. They cloak or cover themselves with their Christianity, almost challenging others, especially fellow believers, to accept them just as they are without a thought of changing their ways. In fact, in some cases, a person is so blind to the affects of their behavior that they pin any conflicts on the others involved instead of taking any responsibility themselves.

Maybe you had a problem with rudeness; maybe it was bad language. Perhaps it was a short temper, or a tendency to evade the truth. Whatever the glitch, the Bible tells us to “…put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-24 NKJ

We need to ask the Lord to reveal our faults to us. We need to accept those faults honestly, because we all have them. Jesus was so wise when He asked “…why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from you own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:3-5

We are a work in progress. We are not to use our Christianity as an excuse to stay the way we are. We are to be improving ourselves, working with the Lord’s help, to become more Christ-like each and everyday.