Ephesians 4:17-19, Live differently from the world

Every family has that one person who just totally doesn’t fit into the family mold, they are known as the black sheep of the family. They don’t look like the rest of the family; they don’t act like the rest of the family and in a family photo they stick out like a sore thumb. If someone didn’t know you shared the same genetics, there is no way that anyone would guess that you were even related. In verse 17 Paul demands that the church of Ephesus becomes spiritual black sheep when it comes to their interaction with this world. He said that world is darkened in by those who have hardened their hearts toward God and are ignorant of His ways. The world has given into their fleshly desires and Paul says straight out that a believer (follower of Christ) has no business being confused with a non-believer.

Even more now than when this was written the church needs to hear and respond to the message at the Apostle Paul was giving the church almost two thousand years ago. More and more every day you see the church acting more like the world; they have allowed the world to influence their behavior more than that have been influencers. The true followers of Jesus Christ should be black sheep in society. We shouldn’t talk like the world, behave like the world, watch what the world watchers, laugh at the same posts they laugh at, and visit the same websites they visit. We are not different because we want to be the cool rebel or standout in a crowd; we are different because the Holy Spirit living within us drives us to Godly behavior. Our focus and attention are not on the same things as the world; we are firmly focused on Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior and this should make us different.