Ambassadors of heaven

A few years ago there was a series on PBS called Downton Abby. It was about a family living on an estate in England beginning at the time of the Titanic. There   great change happening around the world at this time in history. The owners of the estate, Lord Grantham and the servants living in the estate were an interesting and entertaining bunch of characters living side by side in a small community. I think of this illustration as I write because of a common word used every day…Attitude. In Lord Grantham’s time this word meant something very different than it does today. It referred to your posture and the way one would carry oneself. The English are known for keeping a stiff upper lip. They do not share their emotions easily, they are cautious and guarded. Americans are known for quite the opposite, around the world we have a reputation for being “the ugly American” which means we are used to getting things our way and we can be rude to people in achieving our expectations.

I remember traveling with the Global Ventures. They would remind us not to behave like ugly Americans but to behave like ambassadors of heaven. 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, “So we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, "Come back to God!. “ This has a lot to do with Attitude. You may have heard the saying, “You catch more bees with honey than vinegar.” It is true, Jesus told us to LOVE our neighbor as ourselves. It is all about our attitude. Whenever we are tempted to react or respond, chose the latter and love, it never fails!

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