A Good Testimony Is More Than Just Words

A GOOD TESTIMONY

Proverbs 22:1 says that "a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches" and Job, an Old Testament believers, understood that. A lifetime of gracious living can be blown away by one moment of foolishness.

It is one thing to consider yourself righteous - or even have others believe you to be a good person - but quite another to enjoy the smile of God on our lives because He is the only One who knows what is really going on in our inner being.

God's testimony to Job was that he was a man"... blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil." (Job 1:1, The Bible, Old Testament)

He was not a perfect man, but the Bible declares him blameless. This was a man who did not deliberately set out to cause trouble and strife, but who did everything in his power to live in peace and harmony with those around him (Rom. 12:18). He was blameless in his ATTITUDES toward others.

How often we provoke others by the things we say and the way we say them. (Compare Ephesians 6:4, The Bible). That is why James emphasizes that a "mature" Christian is one who has learned to control his tongue.

"If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless" (James 1:26, The Bible). Such is God's measure of genuine spiritual maturity.

Job was also "upright." He lived in such a way that no one could point a finger at him and mock his God. He knew that believers are the only "Living Bible" some people will ever read, and that the world tends to judge God by the behaviour of His followers.

People in his neighbourhood knew that Job was a holy man. Here is one of his secrets for living a holy life: "I have made a covenant with my eyes" (Job 31:1). Very, very powerful words.

Job's goodness and moral uprightness were not merely social graces, but direct results of his reverence for his HOLY GOD. He lived each moment of his life in the knowledge that the eye of his Creator was constantly upon Him.

It was not a legalistic lifestyle. Job genuinely loved the Lord and enjoyed unbroken fellowship with Him. That was a major reason he shunned evil. He wanted nothing to come in the way of His relationship with the Lord.

What a way to honour God! Living a life that is blameless and upright; reverencing God and shunning evil.