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Striving to be Stephen

I’ve been blown away recently by Stephen from the Bible. Have you noticed how he is described? Luke describes him in Acts 6:8 as “Stephen, brimming with God’s grace and energy…” Later, he says that people were trying to argue with Stephen about Jesus, but “they were no match for his wisdom and spirit when he spoke.” Even later, Luke writes that a riot broke out, “But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, hardly noticed – he only had eyes for God, whom he saw in all his glory with Jesus standing at his side.” (Acts 7:55). Wow.

I’ve been thinking about my new job and first impressions a lot lately, so my first reaction when I read these passages in Acts was, “I want to be referred to like that – ‘brimming with God’s grace and energy, ‘only having eyes for God!’” I want my new coworkers to think I am the 21st century, female version of Stephen in my focus and zeal for the Lord! John keeps reminding me that I just need to be myself, not worry so much about appearances, and let the relationships between my new colleagues and I develop naturally. He is right, of course, but it easy to get pulled into the world’s approval addiction and strive to be impressive.

There is nothing wrong with desiring to make a good first impression and come across as a hard worker who loves the Lord, but it is incredibly immature to pursue a deeper relationship with God purely for selfish gain! When I think rationally, what I really want is Stephen’s passion and utter devotion to God. He was so focused on the Lord that he did not even notice a huge riot around him. I, on the other hand, can get so distracted that I begin focusing more on people’s opinions of me than on my own relationship with the Lord – the most precious relationship of all!

There is nothing wrong with wanting to be like Stephen if it is his devotion to God that I’m chasing. Everything in the world is wrong if I am only pursuing his reputation! Stephen inspires me to have my eyes fixed one place, and it’s not the mirror.

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