By Brian K. Jones
Serdina Jones, my wife who has gone on to be with the Lord, use to say… “Don’t talk me to death show me something!” It would always tickle me, every time I heard her say that. She was saying, in common terms… talk is cheap. Yes! It is true that our actions tell more about us than our words do. So I want to challenge all of us today to question what we say and see if it lines up to our actions. Does what we proclaim line up with the life we live?
So, when we stand before God and all invited to the wedding and profess that we will “love, honor and cherish… till death do us part,” do we really believe that? Or when we say we trust… is that what we really mean? Or is this trust based on conditions. “I will trust you until… or I will trust you unless! Till death do us part if… ” But is that really trust? We live in this trust but verify world. “I can only trust in what I see or can prove.” Well, I am challenging us to answer this question… is that trust? If a man says he trust his wife and checks her phone or questions her about where she’s been… is that trust?
I believe God’s word to be true and I trust that the principles He has laid out for me are for my good, yet, if someone strikes me across the face, does my trust in those principles become action? Do I, as the word says… “But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Matthew 5:39 (KJV). If I trusted His word, I would turn the other cheek, but I don’t. I substitute my natural feelings of being respected. I trust that more than the principles I say I believe.
I want us all to take a moment and examine who we are in the context of what we say versus what we do. Hypocrisy is born out of our standing on a soap box screaming about what we or others should do and not applying these proclamations to ourselves. Worse than that, is the unwillingness to acknowledge that, when it comes to that which we speak against so forcefully, we are hypocrites. I think we can agree that it is one thing to know that our words don’t always line up with our actions, but truly another to know this and find it easier to justify it rather than own it.
No, none of us walk the straight line in all things! We all fall short of being consistent in everything we say, but we do have to begin to think before we speak. If I believe that God is a healer and will supply all my needs, then my actions should reflect that very belief. If I get sick or find myself in the hospital, I must trust in the healing power of God. If I find myself short of finances or food, I have to lean on His word that tells me… “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” Psalm 37:25 (KJV). Then, put my faith and trust in to action.
It is my humble opinion, that we want to believe in the principles God has given us, but there is a fear of being foolish in the eyes of the world, if we stand on these principles. We fight human-nature on a day-to-day basis as we walk this spiritual life. Human-nature says self-preservation is the number one priority, which is in direct conflict with Matthew 5:39. “If someone puts their hands on me, I am going to make sure they think about it twice next time!” As believers in Christ, this statement does not lend to trusting in Him. It speaks to a greater need to be carnal than spiritual. So, either we trust in the word of God or we don’t. As much as we say we do, we need to challenge ourselves and look at our words and see if our lives mirror that of what we speak.
Trust! Walk in the knowledge that we don’t have to verify others veracity. We just have to trust. The truth of the matter is, that there is no reflection on us if someone chooses not to be truthful. We have to believe that when the bible says, I am paraphrasing, “What is done in the dark will be brought into the light.”
