God's Grace

One of the points in Bruce Roeder's sermon yesterday really struck me and I have been thinking about it since then. How do we portray ourselves to the non-Christians in our lives?
For those of us in the workplace, do our co-workers know that every good quality we claim is because of Christ's work in us? Or do they see us as hypocrites who tell them that they are sinners and need salvation even as they watch us sin ourselves? Remember ladies, these people see us every day - they know that we are not perfect! It is so important to speak of the grace of God in our own lives.
For those of you at home with children, do you speak this way to your kids? Do they think that there is a certain way they are to act so as not to embarrass you? Are they turning into little legalists who think its okay to act one way at home so long as they never act that way at church? Is their only initiative to obey to please you? Children know that their parents are sinners. This is one of the awesome opportunities that parents have to preach the gospel to their children - by being willing to admit when they have sinned and seek their child's forgiveness and then speak of the forgiveness that God has given them even though they don't deserve it.
All of us who have received God's gift of salvation did not do anything to deserve it. We were dead in our sins and God chose to show His mercy and make us alive in Himself. It is important that we not only say that this is true, but believe that it is true, remind ourselves that it is true, and make it known to others that this is true.