For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. These things command and teach. Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
1 Timothy 4:10-12
Dan Coats, who served for a number of years as United States Senator from Indiana, told this story: “I recently saw the story of a high school values clarification class conducted by a teacher in Teaneck, New Jersey. A girl in the class had found a purse containing $1,000 and returned it to its owner. The teacher asked for the class’s reaction. Every single one of her fellow students concluded the girl had been foolish. Most of the students contended that if someone is careless, they should be punished. When the teacher was asked what he said to the students, he responded, ‘Well, of course, I didn’t say anything. If I come from the position of what is right and what is wrong, then I’m not their counselor. I can’t impose my views.’”
While silence may be the simplest response to attempt to avoid trouble, as children of God we are called to be people who not only believe the truth, but who live by it ourselves and are willing to speak it to others. Our purpose in this life is not to be popular and widely accepted, but to be examples of godly living.
Our lives as well as our words should be a constant declaration that as members of the family of God we behave differently than those who live in the world. Paul wrote, “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15). The truth is worth standing up for no matter how many may stand against us and no matter how much opposition and ridicule we might face.
