Do You Stand Out? 3 Ways You Should Look Different From the World

Texas is known as the cowboy capital of the world.

Home to many cattle ranches, rodeos and even a host of cowboy churches, you don’t have to go far to find cowboys in the Lone Star State. Even the VICTORY Channel™ programmer Butch Bruton is a bona fide cowboy!

If you ever visit Texas, how will you know if you come across a cowboy? It’s easy.

Because cowboys tends cattle and horses or compete in rodeos, they stand out among city folk. In Texas, you don’t have to ask if someone is a cowboy. You know it by the way they talk, the way they dress and the way they spend their time. They’re walking pictures of the Western world!

What about you?

Do you stand out in the world as a walking picture of Jesus? If strangers met you on the street, would there be enough about you that stood out from the rest of the world for them to know you’re a Christian?

We are called to be in the world, but not of it. We are called to be set apart—and not to have friendship with the world by living by its standards. When things like the most recent pandemic show up, we should live like no one else—and not just by watching church on Sundays.

Here are three ways you should look different from the world during this time—and all the time.

1. Your Speaking and Believing

Turn on the TV, open a magazine or just stand near the water cooler for a few minutes, and you’ll find out just how the world speaks and believes. The focus of most exchanges is negative, fear-based, grumbling and complaining, gossiping, or full of doubt.

But not you! You’re different. You stand out.

When you talk, you are positive, optimistic, encouraging, complimentary and hopeful. When others are negative, instead of joining in, you offer the opposite—the biblical perspective, such as…

When others are suspicious of someone, you choose to believe the best.
When others are talking fear about COVID-19, you talk about how you know you’re protected and blessed.
When people speak fearfully of losing their jobs, you’re believing for a promotion and a raise!

That’s how you shine the light of Christ’s love in a world that has no hope. When everyone else is hoarding supplies, fearing for their health, and worrying about losing their jobs—you should stand out.

If you act just like the world—experiencing the same fears, sicknesses and lack—when you ask them, “Do you know Jesus?” there won’t be much drawing them to Him because you have all the same problems they do!

But when you stand out—being confident and at peace when everyone else is frantic—they’ll be drawn to you. They’ll want to know how to get what you have. You’ll be a light in a dark world, just like Jesus called you to be.

Believe and speak your faith, even in the toughest times. Then you will prosper, and you will stand out!

(Wondering where you stand? Find out if you’re siding with the right belief system HERE.)

2. Your Standards

Another way you should look different from the world is in your standards. Fitting in with the world means to do as they do.

This can mean gossiping, swearing, getting drunk, living promiscuously, telling dirty jokes, disrespecting authority, wallowing in depression and many other behaviors unpleasing to God. If you feel a deep desire to fit in, it’s only a matter of time before you start lowering your standards.

Research shows that people are greatly influenced by those they spend time with. For example, those who spend time with people engaged in criminal activity—even if they initially oppose it—eventually end up as criminals themselves. Studies also show that people are 147 times more likely to get a divorce if they have multiple friends in their circle who are divorced.

If you’re looking to fit in, you may start watching television shows and movies you wouldn’t normally watch, or listening to music you know isn’t pleasing to God. If you aren’t careful, people may even begin to sway your political beliefs and convince you that your beliefs constitute some form of hate or are not “inclusive” of all people.

If you have to compromise your beliefs to fit in with a particular group of people—you’re in the wrong company! And it isn’t a place where you want to belong.

(Need help standing strong? Use A Prayer to Stand Out in the World HERE.)

You do not belong to this world (John 17:16). That’s good news! Because you DO belong to Christ. In Him is where you will find your standard of living—which exists for your success and happiness!

We are called to be in the world but not of it (Romans 12:2). That means, though we are part of the world and its system, we are not to act the way the world acts in word or deed. We should stand out! The Bible is your final authority—not Aunt Jane, Cousin Fred, Watercooler Bob or Neighbor Jeff.

The wise walk with the wise. If the people around you are making poor choices, it’s time to cut ties and find godly friends who will encourage you to go higher in your faith and support your biblical views.

3. Your Results

If you believe the only difference between you and those in the world is that you’re going to heaven, you’re missing it. Being born again is amazing, but it isn’t enough! You have to know you have been delivered from darkness NOW in order to know not to camp there.

One way you should stand out and look different from the world is in your results, especially during times like the most recent pandemic. That’s because you don’t live under the dominion of this world anymore. You’re not subject to the times; the times are subject to you.

That means you can be side by side in the same situation with someone who isn’t saved, and they will have a completely different experience than you will. A thousand may fall at your side, but these evils will not touch you (Psalm 91:7). A thousand may be laid off, but you’ll be promoted. A thousand may contract an illness, but you’ll stay healthy and protected. A thousand may have relationship troubles, but yours will stand the test of time.

As long as we stay out of fear, God will lift us over the troubles of the world. With Him, we won’t just survive in tough times, we’ll thrive! For example, some KCM Partners Robert and Bobbie Snow and were recently in the path of a tornado. Every house around theirs was torn down; the area was leveled—except for one house—theirs. That’s standing out!

When you live in the same conditions with different results, unbelievers are going to want to know how to get what you have! They’ll want that same supernatural healing and delivering power of God, the protection, the health, the provision, the peace, the happiness. That’s what draws people to Jesus—the abundant life He promised is only for His people.

Why? Because when you were born again, you were translated out of the effects of this world and into the kingdom of God. You were rescued from the kingdom of darkness through the precious blood of the Lamb. That puts you in a new position—a position of victory!

To get there, we must adjust our words, thoughts and actions to the Kingdom we’ve been translated to, or we will keep living in the dark. And we do that by renewing our minds to the Word of God every day.

As you go about your life each day, ask yourself, Do I stand out? Do I look different from the world in the way I live, speak and believe? Am I getting better results? Keep your eyes on the Word of God, and keep making adjustments to be in line with what is pleasing to Him. Then, like a ten-gallon hat identifies a cowboy, your life will advertise your relationship with Jesus and the hope you have in Him to those who so desperately need Him.

Watch Gloria Copeland and Pastor George Pearsons teach you why you are marked for increase.