Rightside-Up People

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God 

Sin changes everything. Because of it, we humans have lost our sense of what is good and proper in every setting. Right and wrong is foggy. Good and bad is questionable. Self-esteem and narcissism is indistinguishable. Leadership, character, relationships, everything has been transformed by sin. Our fallenness has given us leaders who crave power, not servanthood; taught us to seek security in materialism; to manipulate and exploit others for our personal benefit — to watch out for numero uno.

That is the way of sin. Thankfully, Christ followers are being transformed, turned upside-down, or more precisely, rightside-up. He’s given us many examples in Scripture to inspire us to that end.

He gave us Christ, a Shepherd that laid down His life for God’s sheep.

He gave us Noah, who trusted the word of the Lord.

He gave us Abraham, willing to sacrifice everything to honor God. 

He gave us Joseph, to show us that keeping our integrity is worth it.

He gave us Moses, Joshua, Gideon and others, to show us that godly power is not who has the most soldiers or weapons.

He gave us David, a shepherd boy, to show us that God looks for humble hearts to lead His people. 

These values are lost in our upside-down world. So, when Jesus came, He preached a rightside-up kingdom, one in which the first will be last, and the last first [Mark 10:31]. That makes total sense to me, It’s what you would expect from the One who is “meek and lowly of heart” [Matthew 11:28-30].

When Christ followers live rightside-up, it looks strange to the world. Don’t let that bother you, in fact, make it your goal. Let your friends, neighbors, co-workers, classmates see that you are different—that you have values different from the upside-down world we live in.

But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside-down [rightside-up] have come here too.” Acts 17:6