WHAT DO YOUR WORDS AND ACTIONS SAY?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken. ”Since we have
that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because
we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will
also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself.
(2 Corinthians 4:13-14)

MEDITATION:
Have you ever had thoughts like,
    “Whew, I made it! I’ve been saved, and now
       all I have to do is wait to be with Jesus.”
In other words, have you gotten the idea that when a person is saved
it is the culmination of their faith? That’s just not the way it works,
is it?

At the point we received salvation from God, we began a new journey
that is excitingly different. Why? Because we have invited the Lord to
be in control of all we think, say and do. We realize that selfishness is
not what He expects of His followers. Instead, He expects us to become
selfless as we start living a life as one of His missionaries.

God saved us for a purpose, in addition to ensuring our heavenly destination.
That can be a scary or exciting challenge for us as adopted members of His
family. It leaves us with a choice to either ignore and reject His purpose, or
embrace it with appreciation that He trusts us to be an extension of His
ministry.

The new life we have been given is one of ‘hope’.
    – A hope that our mistakes and sins can, and will, be forgiven.
    – A hope that we can have joy and peace.
    – A hope that we can have security and calmness
       in the midst of the despairing world we live in.
    – A hope that Jesus is coming soon
       (scripture refers to His return as “the blessed hope”).
    – A hope that one day we will see a new heaven and a new earth.
    – A hope that God’s Kingdom will be triumphant and reign forever.

This new hope of ours is not based on our own ability, goodness,
or physical strength. Our hope is created by, and grows from the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is the One who opened the door
to our new hope and made it available for everyone. Humanity
depends on a hope of this type; without it, we would be living
in a gloomy world that offers nothing permanently fulfilling,
and with no promise of a blessed eternity.

So, now that we have this hope, what should we do? We should
speak about it; we should share it with others. The scriptures say,
    “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”
  and now,
    “we believe and therefore we should speak.”
Everyone who believes, should ‘speak’ to others about their faith
and hope. It is not something we should selfishly keep to ourselves.

We should speak verbally, but we should also speak with our actions.
We can send a confusing and conflicting message to others when our
walk doesn’t match our talk. Let’s be honest, if all we do is tell others
about our faith, but they seldom (or never) see any evidence of our
faith in action, they will most likely consider us as hypocrites, right?

Some will choose to dilute this new journey by planning to change a few
things in their lives, but retaining some unrighteous habits and failing to
make a full commitment to serving the Lord as missionary agents for God.
Whether we like it or not, we will be observed by others and the things we
do and say will speak loudly about the sincerity of our new life as followers
of Jesus Christ.

The scriptures give us guidelines for our new journey and anytime we
exceed those guidelines, our life will speak loudly, but the message it
speaks will be the ‘wrong message’. However, as we begin this journey
as a Christian, God initiates a sanctification process of removing the
unrighteousness from our lives and replacing it with righteousness.
This is a good measurement of the sincerity of our commitment and
surrender to the Lord.

It can be overwhelming when we think about change of any kind, and
especially when we have become adopted members of God’s family. It
is not the kind of change we can make in our own strength, and God
knows it, so He provides what we need to become more like Jesus.

When we receive salvation, God gives us access to the Holy Spirit to be
our guide in transforming from who we are, to who He wants us to be.
However, we have the responsibility of asking Him for the Holy Spirit.
We also have the freedom of choice to resist the Holy Spirit, but when
we belong to God, we will want to embrace His Spirit in our lives.

Here are just a few scriptures regarding the Holy Spirit. We can find
many more by using a free search like BibleGateway (Google it and
enter “Holy Spirit” in the Search field).
    If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts
    to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven
    give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
    (Luke 11:13)

    Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you,
    in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your
    sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
    (Acts 2:38)

    “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still
      uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You
      always resist the Holy Spirit!
      (Acts 7:51)

    May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as
    you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope
    by the power of the Holy Spirit.
    (Romans 15:13)

    Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy
    Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?
    You are not your own
    (1 Corinthians 6:19)

    And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with
    whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
    (Ephesians 4:30)

    You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you
    welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering
    with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
    (1 Thessalonians 1:6)

When we are saved, God also gives us a spiritual gift that is designed
for each of us based on how we were created by God. He gives us our
spiritual gift to assist us in serving the Lord. This is another way of
measuring our commitment to following Jesus, so it’s important for
us to discover which spiritual gift we have been given.

When He calls us to serve in some capacity and we choose to ignore
or disregard His call, it is an act of rebellion and defiance to our God.
It also means we are not speaking the right message to others, including
those who are unsaved.

We can create all kinds of rationale and excuses for our disobedience
of God, but He can see the selfishness in our hearts. He knows what
we have not given to Him yet, and He will remind us of its absence.

ACTION:
Questions to ponder:
    – Am I ‘speaking’ to others about my hope
       and faith through my words and actions?
    – How much time do I spend thinking and praying about the
       way I am speaking to others with my actions and attitudes?
    – Am I grateful, and out of a heart of love and
       appreciation, do I thank God for what Jesus did for me?
    – Have I discovered my spiritual gift?
    – Have I asked God to flood my life with the Holy Spirit?
    – Have I justified anything I have not surrendered to the Lord?
           Do I resent it whenever I hear someone mention the topic?

When we are on our new journey as a Christian, we need to know
that we will have new words, thoughts, actions, and consideration
of others. Instead of having a selfish attitude and justifying our
unrighteousness by thinking things like,
    “This is just who I am, and others need
      to get over their hang-ups and accept me this way”
we instead need to think unselfishly about the impact we have on
others.
    Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
    Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
    not looking to your own interests but each of you
    to the interests of the others.
    (Philippians 2:3-4)

When we ‘value others above ourselves’, we will consider the
things they consider as sin and adjust our lives accordingly.
As an example (and we could choose others), if a non-believer
considers profanity as a sin, then they are going to be very
sensitive to how we ‘speak’ our faith and hope to them.

As followers of Christ, we should ask ourselves,
    “Would Jesus use the kind of language I am using?”
At the same time we need to realize that, although they might
never say anything about it to us, lost people who see us using
profanity are not going to have a good opinion of the sincerity
of our faith and hope.

Look at this advice from God through Paul:
    Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to
    peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work
    of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is
    wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone
    else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine
    or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister
    to fall.
    (Romans 14:19-21)

Paul was talking about causing someone to ‘stumble’ when
we eat or drink anything that they feel is wrong. But just
to be sure we aren’t focusing on ‘food and drink’ only,
he tells us not to…
    ‘do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall’

When we are doing anything that a fellow believer thinks is
wrong, we can raise doubts in their mind which cause them
to ‘stumble’ into sins themselves. We can cause them to think
thoughts like,
    “He (or she) is a Christian and they are still doing
      sinful things, so I wonder if it is okay for me to
      continue certain sins in my own life”

It’s bad enough when we allow our selfishness to cause the
‘stumbling’ of a person of faith, but it is even worse if our
actions or words result in a lost person ‘stumbling’ into
hell and missing out on eternity with the Lord.

So, yes, it is important for us to consider the impact our words
and actions can have on others. Have you justified anything in
your life that might be thought of as questionable or sinful by
others? If so, then ask yourself,
    “Why would I continue to do something
      that causes another person to stumble?”

It’s a good question and it can be an indication that we are doing
something that doesn’t align with what we are told in God’s Word.
It also means we are not considering the value of others and the
negative way we are speaking our faith and hope to them.

When God saves us, we should expect Him to make changes in
our attitudes and habits, shouldn’t we? If He doesn’t, then have
we really been changed?
    You were taught, with regard to your former way of life,
    to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its
    deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your
    minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God
    in true righteousness and holiness.
    (Ephesians 4:22-24)

    You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.
    But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as
    these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from
    your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off
    your old self with its practices and have put on the new self,
    which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its
    Creator.
    (Colossians 3:7-10)

Is it really important for us to consider the message we are
‘speaking’ to others about our faith and hope? Yes it is!
Why? Because we are showing our level of obedience to
God. Our words and actions are also speaking to ourselves
about how much desire we have to allow God to ‘sanctify’ us
by making us more holy and righteous.

Here is an example of someone ’speaking’ faith and hope to others.
    A person in your church is disabled to such a degree
    that it is a struggle for them to even get up and get
    dressed. And yet, Sunday after Sunday, you see them
    attending church to worship and praise the Lord.

    You know the struggle they must have had that morning,
    and it ‘speaks’ volumes about their faith and hope, doesn’t
    it? Even their smile seems to speak faith, doesn’t it? That’s
    the type of ‘speaking’ others should see in us.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for Your salvation and
for Jesus who obediently suffered on the cross for me.
Teach me to speak to others about my hope and faith.
Forgive me for trying to justify my disobedience to any
of Your commands. My inner desire is to obey You and
point others to Jesus by speaking my faith and hope
through my words, actions, and attitudes. Convict me
of any changes I need to make to fulfill my desire to
be pleasing to You.”

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