I find it more challenging each day to live for Jesus, and not to muddy my witness for the Gospel.

Prior to accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I didn’t concern myself with living honorably for the Lord. I was selfish, and chose to live my life to glorify my fleshly desires. Even my “good deeds” were to gratify something in me.

But God offered me His gift of eternal life, and pulled me out of darkness into His glorious kingdom.

I can’t take any credit for my eternal life. The only reason I could accept Christ was because God gave me the ability to see Him, and to understand who He is. I had never bothered to read the Bible, it was not in my upbringing. But God took me to to a church where His Word was taught. As I began to read and study the Bible, Jesus, the Light of the World [John 8:12: “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”] made it clear to me that I was a sinner in need of His great salvation. 

He took me out of my darkness [Colossians 1:13: “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son”].

He took me out of my pattern of sinning [1 John 3:8: “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”]

He had to do the work in me, because I was dead in my sins and transgressions. I was incapable of understanding who He is, and what salvation and eternal life meant, until He did His amazing work in me [Ephesians 2:1-2: “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.”].

Once Christ redeemed me and His Spirit made me alive [1 Corinthians 6:19: “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?”], I became a citizen of His eternal kingdom, and joined every other person who also has Christ as his or her Lord and Savior.

That’s where I am challenged. 

My dual citizenship can cause internal tension. The tension might be compared to a tug-of-war. One minute I can be excited to study God’s Word, digging in, and using what I learn in my life. Before I know it, the fleshly side of me is pulling me towards watching TV instead of reading my Bible. 

But since God wants me to live as a blessing to the people in this world, I need to be certain that I don’t shortchange my time with Him every day. I need to resist the pull towards spiritual laziness, and be diligent in my relationship with the Lord.

Even though I live in this earthly world, in an earthly body, and I’m a citizen of this world, God expects that my relationship with Him should be my first priority. It is best for me when He is my priority. As a citizen of His kingdom, I need to abide in Him [John 15]. As I abide in Him, His Holy Spirit empowers me to increasingly sin less [I’m not sinless], so that He is exalted. I’m blessed also as a result of God’s work in me, and then I am a blessing to others.

The more I talk with God [aka pray], read and study the Bible, spend time talking about the Bible with others who are diligently seeking God, and obey what the Bible says, the stronger God grows my faith, and my devotion to His kingdom. 

This spiritual growth allows me to represent His kingdom well in this earthly one. God gets the credit for my spiritual growth. I receive the blessings in serving Him.

2 Corinthians 5:20 reminds us of the role God’s people have in this world: “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

I want others to know how great God is. 

I want others to know that they can experience Him, and His benefits, also.

I want others to know the Good News – the Gospel message of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

I want to succumb less to the pressure of my citizenship of this world so that people will see Christ in me, and want what I have in Him.

John 15:19 reminds me that loving Jesus doesn’t win me a popularity contest with this world: “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

Even though Jesus chose me [and every other Christ follower] out of this world, as long as I live here, I have a responsibility to the people of this world – the responsibility to reveal Christ to them, through sharing the words of the Gospel, and living the Gospel myself.

James 4:4 reminds me further of the tension I experience in this world: “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

James brings up a very hard truth. Too often our tendency is to want to be everyone’s friend. But God indicates that is not possible when His people truly live for Him. 

God does not condone the choices and behaviors of the world – lying, thievery, corruption, sexual sin and depravity are in the news every day. God’s Word clearly speaks to those choices: 1 Corinthians 6:9 clearly delineates what sexual sin includes: “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

You and I have no right to change the Words of God. We cannot condone what He speaks against.

What we must remember is that we are to love the sinner, while hating the sin. That causes tension, but God will help us walk through that as we seek to honor Him, and rely upon His guidance. 

We need to reach out to those who are living engulfed in sin, because we were once engulfed in sin.

But God, through His mercy and grace, pulled us out of that lifestyle, into His eternal kingdom, and we need to be His messengers of the Gospel to those who are perishing.

I want to be God’s blessing, because He is worthy of me honoring Him.

If you belong to Jesus, how do you deal with the tension of your dual citizenship? What might you need to do to be God’s blessing to others, while standing for truth? 

If you don’t belong to Jesus, what is holding you back. I’d be honored to discuss with you what it is to have a relationship with Him. You can reach me at ButGodCares@gmail.com. 

God’s word is living and active [Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”], that is why we must share the words of truth from the Bible, even if they make us unpopular.  

God’s words make a difference. 

Please contact me at: ButGodCares@gmail.com, if you would like to discuss any portion of God’s Word.

Living for Jesus, Donna

P.S. If this has helped you, please feel free to share it with others!

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Copyright 2023 Donna Shappy   All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other – without the prior permission of the author.