They only heard the report.

Once upon a time, there was a man who persecuted the church. He encountered the Lord and he was converted to the faith. He worked for the Lord and established more churches in Asia and Europe. This could have been the narrative about Paul, the apostle. The Lord turned his life around in a short while and he was turned from a persecutor to a builder of the church. No one is useless in the sight of God. God chooses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong (1 Cor. 1:27). And the world heard such reports of how Paul’s life has been changed by God. They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” (Galatians 1:23) There are many reports we hear daily. Some of these reports are encouraging and others can be depressing. Whose report do you believe? The fact of these reports whether good or bad is verifiable and we tend to live in fear of our lives. When God does a miracle in the life of a person, the world can choose to report on the bad side of the story ignoring the good parts. Paul was operating in the gift of the Spirit, he was in the ministry gifts and working tirelessly for the gospel. I believe many were shocked to hear the report about Paul. Do you know that God is able to change the narrative about you? When we come to Christ,we become a new creation and the old order of things (our former lifestyle) passes away. Our newness of life in Christ should reflect in our lifestyles and those around us should be able to report that we have truly changed. However, when our life in Christ is not reflecting Christ, the world will hear the report as well. We are not campaigning for people to say good things about us. But, when we encounter Christ, it should be possible for others to identify it. For some people, the only Bible they will have access to is the lives we live. Therefore, let our conversion be seen by all men. “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt.5:16). The world is hearing so many reports but our lifestyles may be a better report to calm the storms in the world.

#Christlikeness #Change #ReflectingJesus #Newcreation #Report #Transformed