Do you save ribbons? Or...
Illustration
Do you save ribbons? Or, perhaps, pretty wrapping paper from presents? Some people do it "religiously." In fact, I've heard people say at a birthday celebration or at Christmas, "the presents look so beautiful that it is a shame to open them."
I'm all for pretty wrappings, but, let's keep our priorities straight. I've seldom received a sincere present that meant less to me than the wrapping, no matter how attractive it was. Also, how do you think the giver feels if you make more of the wrapping than the present he had looked for so long and hoped you would like so much?
It's the same way for us, as Christians, in witnessing for our faith. We want to do a good job of speaking and living the faith, but if others focus their attention on us, and not on what we are proclaiming to them by our actions and words, then we are actually getting in the way, getting our own egos stroked, rather than proclaiming the faith. We are but the wrappings. Be willing to be torn away so that others may receive the present.
I'm all for pretty wrappings, but, let's keep our priorities straight. I've seldom received a sincere present that meant less to me than the wrapping, no matter how attractive it was. Also, how do you think the giver feels if you make more of the wrapping than the present he had looked for so long and hoped you would like so much?
It's the same way for us, as Christians, in witnessing for our faith. We want to do a good job of speaking and living the faith, but if others focus their attention on us, and not on what we are proclaiming to them by our actions and words, then we are actually getting in the way, getting our own egos stroked, rather than proclaiming the faith. We are but the wrappings. Be willing to be torn away so that others may receive the present.
