What is the most important thing in your life? What would your spouse and kids say is the most important thing in your life? Your neighbors? Your pastor? Your social media friends? If any of these answers are anything other than 'Jesus,' than perhaps we're not doing life quite right. Although I would answer 'Jesus' to the first question, does my family see that as my priority? I don't think my neighbors would. Christians seem to have a pretty bad reputation nowadays. How did we get this reputation? Jesus warned that the world would hate us because it hates him (John 15:18-25), and St. Paul indicated (1 Peter 2:19-20) that we can be hated because of our own bad behavior, rather than for being Christians. So which reason is more prominent in your life? I have two points to share. First we'll focus in, and then we'll focus out. It starts with our personal focus on Christ. Read your Bible daily, and then do what you read. (Unless you're reading about Jael pounding a tent stake through somebody's head in Judges 4). As Hank Hannegraf says, “Get into the word of God and so get the Word of God into you.” Then we teach our kids to do the same, and to be doers of the word, and not hearers only. (James 1:22). We train them up in the Lord (Prov 22:6) so they will live by it all their lives. Of course, we may not have been trained all that well ourselves. My parents became Christians when I was in grade school, and even though their lives changed dramatically, it took years for them to wean themselves off of many worldly habits and thoughts, and we were gone by the time some of that happened. We too may also be engrossed in worldly living and not know it. Here are some things for you to ponder: Should a Christian watch TV at all? Should our kids play video games? How should a Christian dress? Should a Christian tell (or laugh at) dirty jokes? Should a Christian watch R-rated movies? Should a Christian read romance novels, horror books, or pop literature like Harry Potter? One of the greatest questions of all time is, “What would Jesus do?” It really is a great question. We must behave as if Christ is walking next to us all the time (as he truly is), but we need to establish that in our minds. That is how (I believe) we can 'pray without ceasing' (1 Thes. 5:16). As you drive, brush your teeth, and eat your lunch, be in constant prayer. That was all the inward focus – on ourselves. Now to focus out. We do all that because we are ambassadors of Christ. We are HIS representatives in the world, and if anyone sees you do something wrong, knowing you are a Christian, then His name and glory are diminished. Our whole lives are to be a walking testimony to God, whether or not people are watching. “Whatever you do, do it mightily as unto the Lord.” Explore how you can live as if you were a 1-man worship service and God was the congregation. Thus we see how vitally important our own behavior is. May God Bless you all! Josh Peterson