A DEVOTIONAL GUIDE FOR “THE TEN
TIMELESS VALUES FOR DISCIPLESHIP”
Value 9- Week 2 Witness
Word: “Everyone who calls in the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how are they to call on one whom they have
not believed? And how are they to
believe in one whom they have never heard?
And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?” Romans 10:13-14
“What good
is it brothers and sisters if you say you have faith but do not have works? . .
. Show me your faith apart from your works and I by my works will show you my
faith.” James 2:14, 18
Reflection: Words and Deeds
Congruence is a critical virtue for our witness. One of the criticisms leveled at those of us
in the church by those outside of it is there is a lack of congruence in too
many of us. In other words, we say one
thing and do something else. What that
leads to is a lack of credibility and ultimately to a lack of trust. And without trust, I can influence no one. Why would I believe what you say if you aren’t
doing it yourself? Jesus asked the same
question of many would be followers in his own day, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I say?” He also commented, “By their fruits you will know them.”
If we talk about grace, but act judgmentally, or talk about
forgiveness, but bear grudges will anyone believe what I say? Because we have experienced that in others, I think many of us are hesitant to talk
about our faith for fear that we aren’t living it well enough to have credibility
ourselves. As a result many of us who
follow Jesus have satisfied our guilt over not “witnessing” by simply saying, “I’ll
let my life do the talking.” Now don’t
get me wrong, I’d much rather people live the faith and not talk about it than
talk about it and not live it, but an effective witness has do to both. If we do good things and live in a certain
moral way but never tell anyone my motive and ability to do so is because
Christ lives in me, then I’m just a good person and people admire me. However, Jesus said, “let your light shine before others that they may see your good works
and give glory to your Father in Heaven.”
But, how can God get the glory if no one knows that my good works are
the result of what He has done in me and my desire to please him as a result? I love the story in Acts 4 about how Peter
and John, empowered by the Holy Spirit began to boldly speak about Jesus. Verse 13 says, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized they
were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as
companions of Jesus.” What made
people pay attention to their words was their actions. The question for us as witnesses is, can
people hear us speak and see our transformed lives and recognize that we are
companions of Jesus? It will take both
our words and our actions and a consistency between the two to make us a
credible witness.
Practice: Take some time for self-examination this week and see what
changes I need to make in my life in order to give credibility to my witness.
At the same time, look for an opportunity to tell someone what motivates and
enables me to do what I do.
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