“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” (Revelation 3:1)
We live in a day where people are much more concerned about their reputation than their reality. Social media has compounded this problem. With the help of modern technological gadgets, it’s possible to create a completely different image about our lives in public from what we are in private.
As people master the art of reputation management, fake personalities, fake standards of living, fake presentation of happiness, and simply, a fake life is now the order of the day. What’s the goal? It’s all to achieve a certain kind of reputation for self glory.
This was the case with the Sardis church. They had a reputation of being alive but were in fact dead. What God said to them He says to us too: “I know your deeds.” God knows who we really are, and there’s no room for pretense in His presence.
It is the fear of God that releases us from the trap of man pleasing and self glorification and allows us to focus on pleasing God. When we focus on Jesus, we are empowered to be genuine. May God help us to wake up to the realization that to be is better than to seem to be.
Remain inspired!
