Faithful to Our Beliefs

Words matter.  What people say matters.  There is a reality that what is spoken makes an impact.  There is another reality that is equally evident in the common phrase, “Actions speak louder than words”.  Sometimes we hear people say things that sound good but never come to fruition.  Sometimes we make declarations that are not followed through on.  Sometimes we become disillusioned from false promises. 

We can only be faithful to what we believe.  The tricky thing with belief is that it is not a tangible thing in and of itself.  Therefore, it often goes unexamined.  For example, I can make the statement, “My family is important”.  While that sounds pleasant it really only sustains meaning if there are actions that align with it.  The only way actions become aligned with it is when belief in the statement gets exercised.  By saying and doing things with my family’s best interest in mind there is evidence of my belief.  

Many of us commit to verbally stating our beliefs, particularly when it comes to our faith, while contradicting ourselves with our actions.  In Hebrews 11 there is a roll call of people who demonstrated their belief not simply with words.  Verse 13 in the Mirror Translation tells us that, “These heroes of faith all died believing…they declared (their belief) by their way of living…”  

If we believe that God is the Savior of the world, then why do we try to save everyone?

If we believe that God values others, why don’t we value ourselves?

If we believe that God loves everyone equally then why do we treat others poorly?

If we believe that God can provide, why do we focus on the zeros in our bank account?

Ultimately, what we actually believe shows up in our lives as a product of what we are faithful to.  If we really want people to know what we believe then we need to be aligning our words with our actions, our lip service with our lives.