Today is…

the ideal day to conquer embarrassment.

“When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.”  Galatians 2:11 NIV

Many of us have come to Christ from situations and life-styles that were far from Christ-like.

Perhaps we are still acquainted with those who shared that life style. In many instances, we may hide our love of Jesus Christ when we are around those who have not yet made the journey. For some reason we are embarrassed about the feelings that are beginning to grow within us, and we are often afraid of what those who knew us “before” will think of the new and glorious direction we have decided to take in our lives.

As uncomfortable as we may feel, it is important that we ask God for the courage to hold up our faith to all of those around us so they may feel the warmth of its light and in the hope that they, too, will want to share in the joy that comes into us when we accept Christ as our Savior.

It is perfectly understandable that any of us would feel awkward expounding on something in which we feel we have no expertise. We are not expected to run when we haven’t even stopped crawling. However, we do not want to be embarrassed to the point of hypocrisy as Peter was when he refused to eat with the Gentile Christians when some Jewish friends of James were around.

Opening our hearts to the salvation that Christ offers was not an easy task for many of us.

We understand how increasingly hard our hearts had become before we began to chip away at them to reach the soft center. If we, or someone we know, is struggling to become free of a burden, we must not be embarrassed or act in a hypocritical manner. It is important to remember that all of the reasons to be strong and secure in our faith can be found in the Bible.

The best day of our lives was (or will be) the day we said (or will say) “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20 NIV).

Say that again, and again. Soon you will find that there is no embarrassment and there is no hypocrisy.

There is only the abundant joy that comes from faith.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson