Bella Vista Church of Christ
LIFELINES
February 27, 2002 Randall Caselman
What A Difference Faith Makes
It was in the early sixties when Dinah Washington first sang the song, What A Difference A Day Makes, and it could! The difference between dark clouds and sunshine, between sickness and health, between dreams and reality, between guilt and forgiveness.
The same is true of faith. What a difference faith has made in our lives!
1. Faith makes a difference in forgiveness. Faith makes a difference in how we seek, accept and grant forgiveness. Christians are constantly seeking reconciliation with God and others. They are a people who have been forgiven, so they want to forgive. Genuine Christ-like ones will take the initiative, if necessary, to clear the air at the office, in the sports arena, down at the church and in the family. Plus, when forgiveness is granted, they forget the incident and never allow it to re-enter the relationship. It is as if it never happened.
2. Faith causes us to love our enemies. Only Christians treat their enemies with kindness and concern. No other religion assigns as much importance to loving others as does Christianity. Jesus' Golden Rule reigns supreme, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
3. Faith causes us to have a regard for the lowly. The humble, the outcast, the disenfranchised, the AIDS victim, the sinner, the powerful, popular and prestigious are all treated equally. Jesus is our model. He was not prejudiced, but treated all men as those created in His image. We see him eating with sinners, touching the lepers, forgiving those who wronged Him, lifting up the downtrodden and healing the diseased.
4. Faith causes us to uphold high morals. Lying, cheating, stealing, adultery, fornication, drugs, alcoholism and abuse of our families by failing to provide for them are out of the question. Christians know these things are sin regardless of the situation or circumstance. The Biblical standard for moral purity is always upheld by those of true faith.
5. Faith makes a difference in our entertainment choices. Genuine Christian faith turns off the televisions, influences the videos rented and the movies watched. Pornography in literature, conversation and thoughts is resisted. Gambling, lotteries and get-rich-quick schemes are shunned in favor of honest labor.
6. Faith makes a difference in how we view this world. Christians are pilgrims here. Indeed, "This world is not our home." The things of this world are to be accumulated and used as tools to help us and others on our journey, and not for show or self-aggrandizement. True Christianity knows that life is not defined by the abundance of what we posses, but by what possesses us.
Well, we can see right off that faith makes us a very different people. This is the way it should be. God has called us to be a people of faith... "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." God has called us to be distinctively different, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people. Isn't it time we allow our faith to mold us into the people and person He would have us be?
Randall Caselman
