DEEDS vs CREEDS

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

As a Pastor I get lots of opportunities to “talk”. You know what I mean right? In counseling sessions in front of a group or in one on one’s I get plenty of times to “talk the talk”; offer some suggestions, provide a little direction, maybe even fleck it all with a scripture or two. Truth be told (and many of you who have suffered my "long-windedness" know), I can flat out talk.

But like the cliché says, “Talk is cheap”.

That brings me to this question this morning…

“Do your actions agree with your words? Are you merely talking the talk or are you walking it too?

As believers and followers of Christ we are called to action and are not confined to just “good” words. If our lives don’t reflect our speech, we are missing the mark and missing the point.

I will be the first to admit my actions and my words sometimes don’t line up. Either my actions are a poor reflection of what I speak into others or worse yet my words are dismal reflection of the job to which I am called. Either way when the talk and the walk don't align, it sends the wrong message to those around me.

Martin Luther King said it this way:

“One of the great tragedies of life is that men seldom bridge the gulf between practice and profession, between doing and saying. A persistent schizophrenia leaves so many of us tragically divided against ourselves. On the one hand, we proudly profess certain sublime and noble principles, but on the other hand, we sadly practice the very antithesis of these principles. How often are our lives characterized by a high blood pressure of creeds and an anemia of deeds!”

I love that last line don’t you?

Lives focused more on “creeds” than “deeds”. That "speaks" volumes doesn't it?

Jesus shares an awesome story about “doing and saying”.

Matthew 21:28-31

28 “But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 The son answered,‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. 30 Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But hedidn’t go.

31 “Which of the two obeyed his father?”

They replied, “The first.”

What mattered was NOT what was said because actions failed to follow. The first son, even though he swung and missed with his words, he made it up with his actions. It confirms this little passage from James.

James 2:24

You see that a man is justified (pronounced righteous before God) through what he does and not alone through faith [through works of obedience as well as by what he believes].

So will you join me today and pay a little more close attention to what we are doing rather that what we are saying; maybe work hard to make sure they both align?

GOD will be pleased when we do!

In others words let's lean on one more cliché and let's walk the talk.

I love you all!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney