Known for Doing Good

When Peter is trying to summarize the gospel to a Greek household, this was his one sentence:

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. - Acts 10:38

I love that phrase, “he went around doing good.” That’s not how most people think of Christians these days, even though our name literally means “little Christs.” Instead, Christians are often thought of as wanting power and stepping on others to get it. Or like the guy I talked to yesterday who joined us for the neighborhood clean up who said, “He was like a super Christian and was always trying to convince me” (so this guy decided to be an atheist instead).

But what if we were known by our love? Jesus suggested that in the book of John. And then when Peter summarizes what Jesus was all about, he lead with how he made the world better. Again, what if we were known for making the world better?

Take a moment to ponder what you’d like your non-churchy friends to say about your faith when you’re not around. You might even write it down. Then turn that into a prayer, asking Jesus to help you become that person.