Romans 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that nyour faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

A mother asked her boy, “Why aren’t you doing very well in history?” He replied, “Because the teacher keeps asking about things that happened before I was born!”

When we were in school, we were made very aware of our scholastic performance with a report card every semester. While many of us didn’t look forward to receiving our report card, it was important information telling us how we had done, how we were doing, and how we needed to improve on what we were doing or maintain what we were doing. When our report card contained many A’s, it felt good to see how our hard work was paying off. But sometimes a report card showed our grades have slipped, meaning we needed to work a little harder or perhaps seek some help to pull our grades back up.

The report of our faith goes out not once a semester, but every moment of the day. Had the report Paul received of the faith of the church not been important, then Paul would not have commended them for it. What affect are you having on the people around you?

What is the report of others about your faith? Would they say you are on fire for the Lord? Would they say that you are living for Christ? Would those you know outside the church be surprised to find you in church on Sunday morning? Would those in church on Sunday morning be surprised at what they may find you doing outside of church? Is your faith memorable to others? Does your presence in a room cause the language to change and raunchy jokes to be held back? Does your faith command the respectful acknowledgment of others? Or does your faith cower before the opinion of others? I can guarantee you that the reason Paul heard about the faith of the church in Rome was not because they compromised on morality or they set aside God’s standards for holy living to be more relevant to others.  They didn’t participate in unrighteousness in order to reach unbelievers. Paul heard about the faith of the church in Rome because they were changing the world rather than being changed by the world. Paul said that the spiritual report card of the church in Rome was remarkable. How is your spiritual report card? What marks are you receiving? Well, quite honestly that depends on the mark you are making on others. Christians need to live in such a way that our faith will make a mark on others, and in a positive way.