Anyone can show up to church on Sunday morning, raise their hands during worship, and say all of the right “churchy” phrases.
Anyone can grab a microphone and share a message on stage about what living for Christ looks like.
Anyone can post inspirational quotes and Bible verses on their social media feeds about God.
All of those things are good, but I have been learning that there are a lot more things that are more important in this life than impressing people with who we are in public.
It’s honoring God with who we are in private.
People judge us by our personalities and our reputations and what kind of person we seem to be in their eyes, but God? He judges us by our heart and our motives and who we are behind closed doors.
Character goes beyond where we happen to find ourselves on Sunday morning where everyone sees us.
It’s where we find ourselves on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night when no one is watching.
Abraham Lincoln says “you are only what you are when no one is looking” and I couldn’t agree more.
We learn growing up what it means to put our best foot forward.
Children are taught how to be well-behaved in a crowd.
And we should put our best foot forward and be well-behaved but not simply for the crowd, but for every single moment of our lives, especially when nobody is watching.
“Being a Christian behind closed doors is just as important if not more than when you are in public.” –Nate Farely
Have you thought about what God will say to you when you meet Him face to face?
Not what your neighbors, your friends, or even your family will say about you.
Not what the people who see you looking all dressed up and nice at church on Sunday morning will say about you.
But God himself.
The One who doesn’t just see who you are in public, but the One who sees you in private.
Behind closed doors.
When nobody else does.
And not only does He see what you do in secret, He also knows your thoughts and your every motive for your deeds.
We can fool people with our actions but we can never fool God.
He sees the person you are on Sunday morning and the person you are on Friday night.
He listens to the message you preach during your weekly Bible study and He sees whether or not you actually live it out with your life.
He sees whether or not the tithe you give is out of guilt or out love.
He sees whether He’s just one on your priority list to check off or the center of your life.
He sees it all.
And when we stand before Him on that day He won’t be judging us based on the person we wanted to be or the person we pretended to be in front of others.
He will be judging us based on the person we truly are. (Romans 14:12)
He will judge us based on His Word.
Did we use our words to bring blessing or a curse to the people around us? (James 3:1-9)
Were we His hands and feet to the needy people in the world or did we just pass them by?
Did we share the goods news of the gospel to those around us or did we keep it all inside because of inconvenience or fear? (Matthew 28:18-20)
Did we spend most of our time dedicated to pursuing His desires and will or ours?
In the end, when all is said in done… will you be satisfied with you are?
If you were to stand in front of God’s throne today would hold your head high in confidence or hang your head low in shame with the account He will give?
When He replays your history in front of all the witnesses to see with absolutely nothing to hide will you proud of the person you were inside?
With the thoughts you allowed to enter your mind?
With how you spent every minute of your time?
With the motives of your heart?
Or would you wish that you could go back and change your story?
Would you wish you could press rewind and edit out a few parts?
Would you wish you could re-start and live life better the second time around?
I don’t know about you but when I meet Jesus face to face I don’t want to have too many regrets.
I want to be happy with the person I was not on the outside, but on the inside.
I want to live my life caring less about whether I impress people and more about whether or not I honor God.
I want to live with pure motives, gracious giving, and a loving heart.
I want to be proud of myself and who I am behind closed doors more than who I am in public.
I want my character and Christ within me to shine brighter than my personality, my words, or my good works.
I want God, not the world to see, that I am the same girl during the week as I am on Sunday morning.
This week my challenge to all of us is that we will strive to be more like Christ every day so that we can live out our faith honoring God privately more than we do publically. Be blessed and walk faithfully with God! -Anna… ♥
“Be the same person privately, publicaly, and personally” -Judah Smith
Wonderful message! We all need to live our lives the same each and every day, not just on Sunday or when others are watching.
Thank you and amen! Our every day actions should reflect that faith that we proclaim on Sunday morning!
Amen! Thank you for this very deep and very honest message, Anna. It was convicting on so many levels.
Hi Kim, it was just as convicting writing it as it must be reading it. I just hope it encourages all of us to really think twice about how we live our lives so that we won’t regret it later on down the road. 🙂 I hope you have a blessed day!
What if I already have a lot of regrets and failures? What if I feel like I’m too messed up to be proud of my life when I stand before the Lord? Because, quite honestly, that’s how I feel…I don’t think I will ever be proud of the woman I am behind closed doors…
Olivia, We all have regrets and failures. We though are never too far from God’s reach. Do you know who you are? I mean truly are?!? You are the daughter of a KING. You are royalty and as Psalm put it “Fearfully and wonderfully made”. God makes no mistakes and when he made you he said Olivia is who I need for this job, only SHE can do it! Will you turn and see your worth in Christ? There is no guilt or shame, lay it down and put it in the past. Walk forward with God. Will you trip..yes, we all do. Get into his word and find out who HE thinks you are, let him show you the things you need to let go of or change. You say now you are not proud of who you are and God says its about time you were. Take up your cross sister, he loves you!
Hi Olivia! There are two great responses to you already (from Missy below and from Chris above) and I agree 100% with what both of them have already said. We have all fallen short in some way or another (more than once) and it is for that very reason that Jesus died on the cross for us, so that no matter how big or bad we have fallen, slipped away, or sinned we can come to Him, repent, and know that He has given us a fresh new start with Him. There are moments and seasons in all of our lives that I’m sure none of us are proud of, but if anything it is those times of darkness that have brought us closer to Christ as we run to Him for freedom and grace. God doesn’t expect you to be perfect because without Him it’s absolutely impossible to be, He just wants you to face every day with Him and to never stop pursuing Him.
In Proverbs 24:16 it says “though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again.” Here it’s not talking just about any regular person, it’s talking about a RIGHTEOUS person, so even the most faithful of believers stumble and fall, but what matters is that they get right back up with the help of God.
Take for example Peter, who told Jesus he would do absolutely anything for Him (including die for Him) because he loved Him so much… and yet when the time came for Jesus to be crucified he denied even KNOWING Him. Can you imagine how that made Jesus feel? And even more so how it made Peter feel? And yet when Jesus comes back to life He still accepts Peter with open arms and Peter does end up living a life that he sacrifices for Christ when he could have just as easily walked away from God because he was too disappointed about how he betrayed Him with his words.
There is nothing in your life that can separate you from the love of God and the gift of salvation and forgiveness that He offers to you on the cross. Maybe you are not proud of the woman you were yesterday but every single brand new day you have the chance to get back up and try again with the help of Christ to walk in a way that honors Him so that you WILL be happy of the woman you are becoming in Him. It’s not an easy process for our characters to become like His and for our lives to reflect Him in all that we do but you can walk with integrity with Him and live differently than you have in the past. You are His beloved daughter and He adores you, mistakes and all, just like the rest of us. Don’t beat yourself up too much for it. Embrace His love for you and walk forward in life knowing that there is nothing you can’t handle with Christ by your side. Be blessed! ♥
“I want to live my life caring less about whether I impress people and more about whether or not I honor God.” Amen, Anna! This is my prayer for me. Great thoughts! Blessings. 🙂
Thank you! May it be a prayer we all pray!
Olivia…When we repent of our sins, God remembers them no more. They are as far from us as the east is from the west. If you still feel guilt, it is because you don’t quite believe those words. God did not send his only Son to die for just some peoples’ sins, but for all. Trust fully in what God himself tells us in his Word, and move forward, knowing all your debt has been paid. Don’t look back. Keep your eyes focused on Jesus your Savior.
Anna this is a very true message. I am only interested in what my Saviour thinks of me. If we looked around each other we all have our own failures behind closed doors. God knows our thoughts what is done in the dark won’t come out in the light?
I think you have written this perfectly, convicting without pointing. A very hard accomplishment. Your integrity shines through again.
Stephen