PRACTICAL BELIEF

"You can live opposite of what you profess,
but you cannot live opposite of what you believe.”- Dallas Willard

Recently, a teenage boy introduced his new "girlfriend" to his parents. A little awkwardness occurred during the meeting but all went well. A day later the son tells his parents that he most likely will break up with the girl because she was rumored to be using drugs. The dad asked the son if he knew about this before he introduced her and the son said yes he did, but didn't want to "upset" the girl about breaking up with her. What's wrong with this picture?

What happened to saying no to the girl in the first place and standing up for your beliefs? What happened to letting our "light" shine so that others may see Christ in us? The Word of God says this about our living out our faith:

^14-16"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:16 (The Message)

Christians for the most part are not practicing their faith BEFORE they act. We would rather not "upset" the world instead of standing up for what we believe. This is "practical atheism." We are not acting or practicing our faith. It is no different than what an atheist does.

We, (Christianity) are on this earth to make a difference and enlarge the Kingdom of Heaven. Do we practice what we believe? Hows bright is your light?

Blessings,

Jody