What’s the Message?
Today was a “girls day out.” My daughter and I took my granddaughter to see her great-grandparents. It was a fun visit for everyone, delight all around! Hugs and kisses when we arrived and hugs and kisses when we left.
On the drive home my daughter and I talked about the comfort level that her two-year-old daughter has with people that she doesn’t see that often. My In-laws had moved in May and since that time Stella, the two-year-old great granddaughter, had only seen them one other time. That was for her birthday with many family members present.
There have been other times when we’ve watched our granddaughter back away from those she doesn’t know so well. She seemed leery of unfamiliar people.
Our conversation on the way home was about the message that children (and perhaps others) get from us that tells them who is family and who is a stranger. They just seem to get it when it’s family. Is there a behavior that tells Stella that this is family? Do we use words about them and with them that make her understand they are closer than others that we might take her to see?
What messages are we unwittingly sending that others are receiving and we’re not even aware of it?
What it made me think about was the kind of messages I send about my relationship with the Lord. If it is clear to my granddaughter how I feel about my in-laws, do people see my behavior and hear my words and know that I am a child of God?
John 13:35 says, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Are my relationships in the church so loving that when those outside the church see them they want to be a part of it? It’s only through the Holy Spirit that we can love each other so that others see it.
Matthew 5:16 says, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” What good works am I doing that would lead someone else to think that only God could receive the glory for it? Is my light shining for anyone to see?
What this little visit showed me is that people see and hear something when we interact with them. I am sure that if the young can gather something from our communications then so do adults. They can hear and see godly words and behavior that point them to the Lord or they see and hear worldly words and behavior that point them away from the Lord.
It is a big responsibility to think that we are to influence others for Jesus Christ. Clearly, these verses say we can.