What is your reputation among non-Christ-followers? If they were to give a report today about the effect of Jesus in our lives, would we even pass? And believe me, if they can’t see Jesus at work, then we need to question hard our relationship with Jesus. If the core of our spiritual being is corrupt from birth, if our society promotes every evil that would slap ‘Godliness’ in the face, if as paid-for members of God’s family we still struggle with going our own eternally destructive way, why would we expect people to easily see Jesus in our lives. The natural outgrowth of being a Christ-follower is what The Book calls ‘fruit’. But we must stay fertilized, watered, and get plenty of Son-shine in order to be fruitful. If any of those ingredients is missing, fruit doesn’t happen. People will see immature, half-grown, bitter, unappealing fruit. Or maybe we are so guarded with our fruit that is rots on the branches, never shared with others (the very purpose of fruit’s existence!) I pray we are not causing non-Christ-followers to cover their eyes and hold their noses when they are in our presence. Christ is a sweet fragrance. Don’t try to cover up your stink with a little deodorant. Take a full shower in Jesus.
The Arnold Journey 