“And they glorified God in me.”
Galatians 1:24 NKJV
We all experience certain events that seem small but ultimately change the very trajectory of our lives. One of mine happened years ago when my roommate’s then-girlfriend called me out during a conversation. Somehow I mentioned that I was a Christian. She was surprised, and I was surprised that she was surprised. When I asked why my being a Christian surprised her, she said, “Well, you don’t really act like a Christian. You fornicate, you cuss, you go clubbin’. Basically you act like everybody else. So I just didn’t know you were a Christian.”
In Galatians 1, Paul recounted his former life of persecuting Christians, and compared it to his new life of converting people to Christianity. He says that the people glorified the God in him. Basically, he had the opposite effect that I was having. If people can’t see the difference between the old you and the new you, are you really different? They can’t glorify the God in you if they can’t SEE the God in you. As Matthew said, others should see your good works and glorify God (Matt. 5:16).
I’m so grateful that I was called out. I honestly don’t think I changed much in that moment, but it’s one of the key moments that led to my current life of striving to be more and more like Him everyday. I don’t want people to see me when they look at me. I want them see the God in me and glorify Him. Kirk Franklin says it very well in his song “Last Jesus”:
If I say I love Jesus
But you can’t see my Jesus
My words are empty
If they can’t see Jesus in me.”
Can they see Him in you?