The Billboard We Carry

Sometimes, the biggest obstacle to people seeing Jesus clearly is not the world; It is us.

We are often the billboards the world reads long before they open Bibles. And if we are honest, these billboards do not always tell the right story.

When life gets hard and we are hurting or scared, we cry out to God. We pray more. We lean on others. We ask for help. We know we need grace. In those moments, we are fully aware of how much we depend on Him.

But something strange happens when things start to turn around. We get back on our feet, we start to feel strong again, and suddenly we forget that the same grace that lifted us when we were down is the same grace that sustains us when we are up.

Instead of extending that same compassion to others, we start comparing.
“Well, at least I am not as bad as he is.”
“At least I have it more together than she does.”

We begin measuring ourselves against broken people instead of looking to the perfect Savior.

Jesus warned us about this kind of attitude. In Luke 18:9–14, He told a story about a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee stood proudly in the temple and thanked God that he was not like other people. The tax collector simply bowed his head and prayed, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Jesus said it was the humble man, not the proud one, who went home right with God. When we forget where we came from, we stop showing others the Jesus who saved us.

Living Different

What if we lived differently? What if we remembered that every good thing in our lives is a gift from God and not a reward for how good we have been?

James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.”

When you realize everything you have, your strength, your peace, your recovery, and your blessings all come from God, pride fades and gratitude grows.

When Jesus walked this earth, He did not look down on the hurting; He knelt beside them. He did not compare; He cared. He did not judge from a distance; He reached with compassion.

So when you are down, let people see your faith. Let them see that even in the storm, you trust God. Let them see your hope when you do not have all the answers. And when you are up, let people see your gratitude. Let them see your humility. Let them see the same Jesus shining through you in both your struggle and your strength.

A Consistent Faith

The apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:12–13, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation... I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.”

Paul learned how to stay consistent, not prideful in success, and not hopeless in hardship, because his strength came from Jesus alone.

The world does not just need to see Christians who worship God when everything is going right.

The world needs to see Christians who cling to Him when life falls apart and who remain humble when He lifts them up again.

People are watching. They see how we handle pain. They see how we handle blessing.

Let us make sure that in both, we reflect the heart of Jesus. Because we are His billboard, and the message we send matters.

One day, someone you may never meet will look at your life and decide what they believe about God. They will watch how you walk through pain, how you respond to blessing, and how you treat people who can do nothing for you. They will read your life like a story, like a living message.

In 2 Corinthians 3:2-3, Paul makes it clear. “You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

When people look, what will they see?

Will they see pride or humility? Will they see judgment or grace? Will they see a person who talks about Jesus, or will they see a person who lives like Jesus?

Every moment, every word, and every choice paints a picture of who He is.

Let us be the kind of billboard that makes people stop and say, “If that is what Jesus is like, I want to know Him.”

Let the message of your life point straight to the Savior who never stopped loving you.

When people see Him in you, that is when the world begins to change.