Are We Walking Worthy of HIS Name?

What names do the people we know give us? 

Would they call us pretenders, self-seekers, gossips,

prideful, lovers of money, or covetous?  Or ... would we truly qualify to be called a Christian?


These are hard questions to answer about ourselves.  It's so hard to see ourselves as we really are.   I think about it often, am I steadfast in my commitment to the Lord and represent Christ well in the world?  Here are a few thoughts:  
We often excuse our un-Christ-like attitude and behavior by saying "no one is perfect,"  Other Christians I know do all the same things.   It may be true that other believers are as sorry as we are, but that should never satisfy us to stay the way we are.  We should desire with all our heat to become someone worthy to be called a follower of Jesus.   There are some things we can do to change:


1.  We must first WANT to change.  Jesus must become our measuring rod.  Romans 8:29-30 tells us, ''Those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that we might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters... those he called, he also justified, and those he justified, he also glorified.''    The cry of our heart must be Lord Jesus I want to become like you so I can bring honor to your name. 

2.  We must decide to obey the Word of God regardless of what others practice.  We chose to do the will of God as His Word instructs ... and of course in order to do this, we must meditate on and know God's Word.


3.  We need to surround ourselves with God's people who live what we desire to become.  There is an old saying, "Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are."  We may think it really doesn't matter who our friends are as long as we follow our own convictions,  but this is one of the most powerful deceptions of the Enemy to keep us from becoming like Jesus.  We may not realize it, but the negative behavior,  critical spirit and rebellious attitude of those we spend time with will surely rub off on us.  It may not happen over night but our heart is being poisoned little by little.  The Apostle Paul wrote, "Bad company corrupts good character." (1Corinthians 15:33).  We may even hurt some feeling including our own when we dissolve some friendships that pull us in the wrong direction. 


4.  We must draw near to God.  God put a wonderful promise and invitation in His Word for us:  "Draw near to God and He will draw near to us." (James 4:8)  We will find that His presence and character will transform our thoughts, hearts, and actions in such a way that we will become authentic Christians.