What Does Your Life Say?

I asked a question on my Facebook page one day and, surprisingly enough, I only got a couple of responses. My question was for you to think about the relationships in your life and prioritize them in order of importance to you.

Those who responded that were married put their spouse first. Those who were single or single again placed their children first. One person wanted to know how they were supposed to be placed.

This made me really think about how this would show what is truly important to us. You would hope those who know Christ would list that relationship as first and foremost, but many times we forget what a viable relationship that is in our lives, or is it?

We all know individuals that are struggling and hurting, even lost. We ask for prayer for them. We need to have others praying for our friends, family, and acquaintances. I believe a question we need to ask ourselves, in the process, is what are we doing in our lives to help those we know are hurting for them and to be seeking the ONLY ONE who can heal and bring hope. What is our life of worship speaking to them? How do we handle the crises’ in our lives in front of them? Who or what do they see us turn to? I truly believe if we all lived out Matthew 6:33 in our lives we would see more people in our lives ask us how we got through this or that and give us an opportunity to share our faith with them. Matthew 7:20 says, “So then you will know them by their fruits.” Your friends and family will truly know Whose you are more by how you live than by what you say.

I met a man one day. He was married and had 6 children. I was tearing down a building across the street from where he lived. As I look back on that day I can honestly say that we instantly became friends. We didn’t have anything in common. I was divorced and a single again with a son, who lived with his mother. I was of the Christian faith and he of the Mormon. There was just something in us that connected though. After I closed down my demolition business and opened a furniture store he would stop in from time to time to visit. I’ll never forget the day he came in and brokenly told me his oldest daughter had cancer. I immediately asked if I could pray for her. I did with him right then and there in the store. This man had a really tough life growing up as a child having lived in many different foster homes. I gathered he'd never really had a friend or someone other than family care about or love him, no matter what. I know enough about the Mormon faith to know they don’t believe the only way to heaven is through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I prayed for that man and his family and had others praying for him. He was always there when I needed his hand as I was for him. He would give of himself like no one else I’ve known. When the hurricanes hit he would go cut trees down and charge what the person could afford, even if it meant he earned not a penny from the job. He came to work for me at one of the jobs I’ve had here in Weimar. While we worked with each other we grew even closer and got to really know each other, good and bad. One day he decided to move his family to Colorado. His daughter had been in and out of remission and he was always there for her, keeping her spirits up and encouraging her to fight. I’ll never forget the day he called from Colorado and told me he’d been diagnosed with lung cancer and it was in the late stages. The doctors had given him just a few months to live. He was more concerned about his daughter and her keeping on fighting than he was his own. I prayed again with him. We always prayed together and had great conversations about spiritual matters. I never got to see him again. When his wife called to tell me he had passed away she told me that he never really allowed anyone to get close to him and see his vulnerable side or call them friends. She told me that was what he called me, his friend. What a privilege to have known such a giving, caring and loving man. What a privilege to be able to call him my friend, what an honor for him to call me friend. I believe I did what God called me to do with him, to sow and water. I’ll never know what the outcome was, whether anyone reaped the harvest. I can only hope that my obedience to live my life as genuine and true to my Savior in front of him helped him to be more than just a great friend but a brother. I have wondered, since his death, what kind of friend would I truly have been to Paul if I had not been obedient to Christ. What kind of friend would I have been to my Savior? Would I truly have had the honor of knowing he thought of me as a friend? Would he have ever heard anything about my best friend Jesus, if I hadn’t loved him through Him?

The short of all this is to say we are called to live our lives and love others through His eyes. The way we live should reflect our heart. What does your heart say about what and who is important to you? What do others see or hear in the way you live?

I want to encourage you to look at how you are living in your single again life. Do others see sin in your singleness or do they see your life sing for Christ in your singleness?