Have you ever thought of your personal relationship with the Lord as having an impact on your witness? I would imagine in terms of what you say or don’t say or do or don’t do—yes. But what about in terms of simply “being”? By that I’m referring to our unspoken and undemonstrated witness.

In today’s climate of seemingly constant chaos and pandemonium, when many people are stressed and wear that stress on their proverbial sleeve, the love joy and peace, in Christ, we can exude, is a powerful contrast and testimony.

Reflecting the Fruit of the Spirit

As followers of Jesus, our testimony has the potential to be radiant in beauty as we reflect the Lord through the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22).

Now people may quibble with our words, but there is no denying the power of a joyful countenance on the servant who loves Jesus. I don’t know what else to call it except the “Jesus look.” You may have your own expression.

The “Jesus look” is what someone sees in a faithful believer, one who exudes the “Joy of the Lord.” That joy can only be produced by Him, not our circumstances. This is the fruit of the Spirit described in Galatians 5.

Mike’s Contagious Joy

Many years ago while coaching tennis in East Tennessee State University, we had a gentleman named Mike who regularly played in our tennis tournaments. On other occasions I’d see him at the tennis courts where I was giving private lessons. Mike always had a smile on his face and his joy was contagious. It was a powerful testimony and one that caused me to take notice.

One day I was teaching a tennis lesson and Mike was playing on an adjacent court. This was the day I was going to “confront” him. I had to know. If my theory about Mike being a believer was wrong, then I would have to throw the whole “joy of the Lord” theory out the proverbial window.

I walked to him and said, “Mike, I want to ask you something.” He strolled over with that same joyful expression on his face. “Yes?” I just blurted it out. “You love Jesus, don’t you?” He grinned even more – “Yes, Yes I do.” “Good. I thought you did because you exude the joy of the Lord.”

How’s that for a blunt, direct confrontation? The fruit of the Spirit can be quite powerful in our witness to others. Whether we realize it or not people are always watching.

Living Epistles, Always Being Read

The book of 2 Corinthians tells us that we are living epistles. An epistle is a letter, and as such, it is read. Paul wrote to the believers at Corinth:

“You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men: clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart” (2 Corinthians 3:2-3).

The implication is that people are always watching and reading us. And not only our words and deeds are in play, but also our countenance.

Always Watching

I’m a big fan of the movie, Monsters Inc. It’s a fun and funny family flick our family watched when our children were youngsters. Before our daughter Shoshi married a year ago and moved out, it’s a movie we still liked to watch together on occasion.

One of my favorite characters in the movie is Roz. In this animated comedy, Roz is the ever watching and listening secretary who keeps things in the Scare Factory in order. There are a few scenes in the movie where she reminds one of the factory workers, named Mike Wazowski, played by Billy Crystal, that she’s watching. In fact, she reminds him on more than one occasion. “Wazowski, I’m watching you. Always watching.”

Whether we realize it or not, people are watching you and me. Always watching. At the University of Florida in the mid-1980s, before I came to faith, I ran into Matt on campus. He grew up in my neighborhood. I remembered two things about Matt: he was an awesome drummer, and he got into lots of trouble. I hadn’t seen him in a few years, but the moment I saw him I could tell something was different – very different.

A Peace That Confronted Me

He had a peaceful countenance, and the tone of his words was also filled with peace. Matt shared with me that he’d become a Christian. He said he was recording a Christian concert at a local TV station and wanted to know if I wanted to hang out.

I said, “No thanks” – and went on my way. In all honesty, his peaceful countenance freaked me out. It scared me, because it was powerful and unique. I didn’t understand it. And, at the time, I didn’t want to understand it. That peace that surpasses understanding, ‘the peace of God,’ did not comfort me. It confronted me. And I ran away, not wanting to know anything more.

While we should aspire to know Christ intimately and experience and express the fruit of the Spirit in abundance, the response of others to that expression will be mixed. People may be attracted to or repelled by it. The countenance of God’s glory in a person may evoke fear. That was certainly the case after Moses had spent forty days with the Lord on Mount Sinai. Upon coming down, the Israelites were afraid to come near Moses because his appearance had changed: (Exodus 34:29–30):

“Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.”

When the light of the Lord shines through us, there will be a response. People will either be attracted to or repelled by the light of Christ in us. Matt’s testimony of peace impacted me. Initially, I was repelled by the power of that countenance, but looking back on the event I can now see that it was a seed planted in my life—a seed that indicated there was something unique about Jesus and about knowing Him.

The Question Worth Asking

Imagine going to your local mall and doing a one-question survey, asking people this yes-or-no question: “If you could experience abundant love, joy, and peace in your life, would you want that?” Very few would say, “No.” I wonder what the response would be if you added this follow up: “What if I told you that Jesus was the key?”

As we strive to witness for Jesus, remember that the love, joy, and peace we express is a powerful testimony to those who are watching. May each of us be a living epistle that’s a compelling read to the Rozs’ and others in our life. Because they’re watching – always watching.