Seek First the Kingdom of God
It has often been said that most Christians have taken in just enough of the gospel to inoculate them against the meat of the Word. In other words, they get their spirits delivered from the clutches of the devil-- "fire insurance," if you will, yet have little or no interest in a daily walking relationship with the Lord.
Their hope is that they can hang onto the way they lived in the past. They cautiously come out to get saved, healed, help with their debt situation, then scurry back to the way they were that got them into the mess in the first place. Yet with God it is a total commitment: all-in or all-out. He allows for no compromise with the world, our flesh and the devil. It is not a matter of "my life PLUS God," rather "God in and through my life.
This is a bit like having a cup of coffee in the evening, then preparing a cup of hot tea in the same cup the next morning without washing out the coffee residue. What you get is blech-tea that is not fit for use. No, we must wash out all the old stuff in our lives, so that it cannot contaminate the good stuff of God.
Our spirits are reborn when we accept Jesus as Savior and Lord over our lives. That should only be the beginning. Our souls (minds, emotions, heart) should be in the process of being reborn. Our bodies will be reborn later.
At the final Judgment we will not be bowing before or judged by men. Instead we will be adjudged for our eternal rewards by the Lord. We should care not for the opinions and judgments/condemnations of men... even our own if they conflict with the Word. The past is a dead letter box. It is what we have done since we were saved that matters. The old man from before is deceased and his old misconduct a fading memory: the new man is eternal. Like our Master we should go about healing wounds, helping others and doing good.
That said, whenever we are persecuted for the sake of the gospel we need to wear that as a badge of honor. It links us with Chriwst Himself and all the martyrs who have gone before us. However, when not related to our faith, we are not required to be human washcloths, soggy and limp.
In my own life, when I see misconduct by individuals and organizations that will have a detrimental effect on others and their "stuff," the training, experience, contacts as well as the strategies and tactics of ancient Chinese General Sun Tzu kick in and whatever is necessary within the law in their defense shall be done.
In the past I had a hand in closing down two companies with significant legal penalties for their chief officers, and removing individuals from positions where they had been causing harm (Jesus rebuked the religious and political leaders of ancient Israel for their abuses.)
The entire family of a leading general officer were provided fresh identities and spirited out of a hostile nation at war, and a military leader who cared not for the law found all official paper and electronic documentation of his existence and, hence, his career go poof. In a boxing match the one who is defeated is the one who stops getting back up.
Powerful defenders take up our own cause to ensure wrongs are righted with interest.
No one on earth knows what will happen next year, next month, tomorrow or indeed in the next five minutes. Therefore, NOW is the time to move out in obedience, living the life we've been called to live. We are ambassadors of the Kingdom of God with all the rights, privileges and authority of ambassadors, and we ARE the Lord Jesus to the world. To be sure, we may be the only Jesus some will ever see and hear. We should be witnessing every day, in every situation, and using words if necessary.
References: Romans 14:10+; Ephesians 4:20+; 1 Corinthians 10:all; Revelation 2:all
