The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:22, “Abstain from all appearance of evil.”\u00a0 Like it or not once you have identified yourself as a Christian to people, they begin watching you, especially those who are against Christianity.\u00a0 It is very easy for us to assume they are watching to see if we are going to slip up and fall into sin, thereby giving them an excuse to avoid becoming a Christian and labeling you as a hypocrite.\u00a0 However, I think that most people just want to see a genuine person, especially those who claim to be Christians.\u00a0 We can all think of countless of examples of people who say they are Christian but then make no attempt at following Christ’s example.\u00a0 I truly believe the unsaved are not rooting for Christians to fail, I believe they just want to see something genuine.\u00a0 And that is why as a Christian we must be careful in how we live our life.<\/p>\n
The context of 1 Thessalonians 5:22 is Paul telling Christians in Thessalonica to live a godly life because the return of Christ could be at any moment.\u00a0 The word “abstain” means to refrain from or to completely avoid.\u00a0 The key word to this verse however is the word “appearance.”\u00a0 Paul was instructing the Christians in Thessalonica as well as us to not only avoid evil itself, but anything that could be construed or misconstrued as evil as well.\u00a0 Sometimes what you do is not necessarily wrong, but it doesn’t look good to those watching you or it causes another Christian to stumble in their walk with Christ.\u00a0 If it doesn’t pass the “eye” test or it causes a brother or a sister to stumble then even if it is not forbidden in Scripture, we as Christians have no business doing it.\u00a0 A simple rule of thumb is, if I have to ask should I, then I shouldn’t.\u00a0 That is not another burden or unnecessary restriction for a Christian.\u00a0 Rather because we love God and we love others and want to see as many as possible come to faith in Christ, we willingly give up the right to do certain things if there is a chance it could keep others from coming to faith in Christ.\u00a0 We must realize as Christians that the devil desires us to sin, not so that he can laugh at us, but so that he can try and keep others from coming to Christ.\u00a0 Therefore, be careful in how you live, because even if you don’t see them, they are watching!<\/p>\n
By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:22, “Abstain from all appearance of evil.”\u00a0 Like it or not once you have identified yourself as a Christian to people, they begin watching you, especially those who are against Christianity.\u00a0 It is very … Read More