What Message Are You Sending?

Written By Bishop Ronald D. Roston for 3V Magazine

In the midst of an environment that screams, “If it feels right, do it”, we must exercise self-discipline and caution.  In this hi-tech society in which we live, full of its subliminal messages, we must safeguard the message we send.  Our body language, and the tone of our voice, has inherent messages in them; which we must monitor and of which we must remain mindful.  People are always reading us; our facial expressions, our body posture, our dress and physical appearance.  Therefore, we must make sure that the message we send screams our Christianity, our sexual purity, and our membership in the Kingdom of God.

People should not look at us and have to wonder about our sexual persuasion or our membership in the Body of Christ.  Like Christ, we should be visible manifestations of the invisible God.  The message that we should send is that, “I belong to God and am trying to live my life to please Him. We cannot have our good be spoken of as evil, so we must insure that our motives are pure and that our behavior reflects these pure motives.  We cannot become caught up in the ‘sensual revolution’ that is taking place.  If we are not careful, flirtatious behavior will lead to adultery or fornication. 

Our speech, walk, modesty in dress, and eye contact should all send a clear message that we are about our Father’s business.  They should reflect a sense of holiness that indicates our submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and our determination to live a holy life.  These outward manifestations do not make us holy; they are merely an outward indication of an inward possession that restrains us from being conformed to the world’s standards.

Daily, as we practice our Christianity, we must make a conscious decision to stop trying to live a Christian life; for if it is us trying to live the life, we will surely get in the way and mess it up.  Instead, we must decide to let Christ live His life through us.  Let Him do the work!  Just as He was the Word manifested in the flesh; we must become the flesh manifested in the Word.  This way the message will be clear, it won’t be muddied! People will see Him, not us.  When we speak, they will hear Him, not us.  It will be Jesus sending the message through us.