Are You Walking The Walk or Talking the Talk?

ARE YOU WALKING THE WALK OR TALKING THE TALK?

As a Christian we are called to a higher standard of living. To profess you are a Christian you must also live like one. We are to be examples to others. When we profess to be a Christian to anyone, we have then put ourselves in a position where we are watched closely. (what comes out of our mouths, how we carry ourselves and how we treat others- basically, how we are living our daily lives) As a Christian music artist, this is imperative. It is extremely important if we are to win souls into the Kingdom of God. If we are living our lives the way we want to and not according to His word, we will be poor examples of what being a Christian is all about. Why would anyone want to be like us? What is different about us if we are not holding ourselves to a higher standard of living? According to scripture we are to be full of the joy of the Lord even in the midst of a trial, we are to maintain hope in hopeless situations, we are to put our trust in the Lord, not in man. We are to be vessels with the light of Christ shining through us.

HOW TO WALK THE WALK

Basically, it can be summed up in 1 Scripture:

Galations 5:16-23 ( NIV)
16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Today I’m going to speak about some of the fruits of the spirit and other topics related to them that are important in helping us to walk the walk, not talk the talk.


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LOVE AND KINDNESS:

Ephesians 4:32 (NIV)
32Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

1 John 3:18 (NLT)
Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other;
let us really show it by our actions.


It is easy to love people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start.
- Mother Theresa


Jesus said, “love your enemies”. That’s a difficult one. Show an act of kindness to someone you really can’t stand. I’ve done it. Because I wanted to obey the Lord and I had an opportunity to do it. It felt great actually. That person will be affected by what you do. It will touch them even though they may not admit it or act upon it with a positive response to what you did. Are we holding grudges against anyone? Or are we forgiving those who have done us wrong and we know they are dead wrong, they have hurt us beyond hurt? Forgiving them feels impossible within our flesh, but we, as Christians are commanded to do it with the help of the Holy Spirit within us. That can be one of the hardest things to do, forgive someone, but we are to listen to the Lord and act as Jesus did. When he was put to death and asked the Father to forgive each and every one of them who put him to death..

Example: I heard this a while ago : a woman’s son was murdered…she is in the courtroom and after the trial walks up to the man who murdered her son and says I forgive you for what you have done and I love you with the Love of Christ. Compared to situations that we have a hard time forgiving, when we think of this one true example, I’ll bet it would change your mind really quickly.


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SELFLESSNESS: Putting your own agenda aside help someone who is in need.

Romans 15:1-3 (The Message)
1-2 Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, "How can I help?" 3-6That's exactly what Jesus did. He didn't make it easy for himself by avoiding people's troubles, but waded right in and helped out. "I took on the troubles of the troubled," is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it's written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next.


Are we so caught up in our own agenda that when we are on our way to work and someone pulls out in front of us and starts driving 20 mph on a one lane road where the speed limit is 6o. We get so angry because now we’re behind someone driving so slow we are “def. going to be late now.” Or, we are getting so frustrated with the cashier at Walmart and we’re judging him or her because it looks like they didn’t wash their hair, they have rotted out teeth and don’t know how to bag our items, not to mention they move like snails at the register….so we look at them not like Jesus would. We judge them like we are somehow better than them and our agenda is just way more important than what may be going on in their personal life, which should be our ultimate concern as a Christian. How can we make a diff. in THEIR lives while we are in line. Did they just get thrown out their home, did they just about make their rent payment and have to work a double shift just to keep a roof over their head, is their mother or father dying of cancer?

We, as Christians need first ask the Holy Spirit what to say or do to make a diff. in that person’s life in that moment you have with them. give people an encouraging word, tell them God loves them, or even just a loving smile may make all the diff. in the world to them. We need to stop and think of that before we look at people with our own eyes and not the eyes of Christ. Also, when standing in a long line, instead of looking at the lovely tabloids at the register area, how about we start to pray, asking God to bless those around you, to heal them of any disease or sickness they may have, to pray for their salvation and the opportunity for that to happen even then while standing there. God is always ready to take action., but we must be willing to let him do it and give him the chance to use us. It can be so rewarding when it happens. That is the joy (which is one of the fruits of the spirit)in serving the Lord. It happens to me and I just get so much joy out of it and thank the Lord for that situation.

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VERY IMPACTING VIDEO ON YOUTUBE: “GET SERVICE”
I ENCOURAGE EVEYONE TO WATCH IT. YOU WILL LOOK AT PEOPLE VERY DIFFERENTLY.

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PATIENCE

Someone is talking to us so long about something they feel is so important and we are losing our patience quickly, but at the very end of the conversation they may say something so important or helpful that you actually needed to hear which may have helped you avoid a critical situation that may have happened like “there’s a storm coming tonight so you better not drive ….or something simple like, “the store just closed" ….meanwhile you were just on your way there.
Sometimes it doesn’t turn out that way at all. However, these situations are what develop our patience which in turn develops our character…


SELF CONTROL: Control of one's emotions, desires, or actions by one's own will
The key to this is by “one’s own will”
We struggle with our flesh in this area very much because we need the help of the Holy Spirit in this area more than any other area I feel. In our flesh There are so many things we want so bad, so many things we have to restrain ourselves from doing, or Saying (THE POWER OF THE TONGUE!!! – A HUGE AREA IN OUR LIVE TO HAVE SELF CONTROL OVER - ONCE IT COMES OUT, THERE IS NO TAKING IT BACK.

Ephesians 4:29 (The Message)
29 Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift, or desiring.

James 3:8 (NIV)
8 but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

Proverbs 12:18 (NIV)
18 Reckless words pierce like a sword,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Proverbs 15:4 (NIV)
4 The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but
a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.
There are so many examples of SELF CONTROL, too many to elaborate on.

We all have personal experiences in your own lives where we couldn’t hold our tongue, became angry, acted on something compulsively where later you regretted it because you “just couldn’t control yourself” We need the Holy Spirit’s help so badly to “walk the walk” in this world.

This world is a spiritual battlefield where we are challenged to produce fruit, spiritual fruit to benefit the lives of others, to please the Lord, and to ultimately improve our walk with God and keep us in a place of peace.