Actions

It's been said that "actions speak louder than words". We've all heard these words a time or two in our life. I can think of countless examples of this. We tell people we love them all the time, but if the actions don't back it up, then we are a liar. Ouch.......ok, this isn't usually the intention, we don't intend to be a liar, but if we are honest, it's the truth.

I have had numerous people in my life tell me they loved me. I am a person who gives people the benefit of the doubt and tend to trust what they say. It's been said that I am too trusting of people at times. However, I've grown a lot, and realize things about people that I didn't want to admit before. That maybe when they tell you words like "I love you", they may really love you in their own way, but their actions say different. I could go into lots of details about this, but I'm going to let it go as we all have had people portray one thing and act another.

In my family we would all get together on Christmas Day. About 20 or so would gather In a little living room at my grandma and grandpas house. We would all eat and of course have presents. When we would leave....everybody would hug and kiss each other on thr cheek. My family said the reason for doing this was because we didn't all get together that often, so when we did it may have been the last time we saw one another. We needed to make the goodbye special and share love cause you didn't know if you would see them again. This action among all of us showed love more than words could have. I still hug and kiss my parents when we leave one another. No words need to be spoken as the actions speak for themselves. I'm not saying we should never tell anyone we love them, I'm saying if actions don't back it up, there may be a problem.

Yesterday my pastor gave an amazing message from 1 Corinthians 5. He had a good line in his sermon. "Every action has social implications in a faith community". This line got me thinking. "Every action".......so every thing we say, do, act, has an effect on others in our life. Our words and actions can either encourage or destruct. They can build unity or divide.

For example.....I am active in my church and people know me pretty well. If I show up on a Sunday morning and go to each person and tell them I love them, but later go and spread horrible rumors about a few to everyone else......that's bad actions. I am now a liar. My words don't match my actions. I've hurt people and have made Jesus look bad. I've destroyed my character as a Christian. I would hope someone would love me enough to point this mess out to me. If not, this action will divide the whole.

Another example.....I love to be with people. I love to write notes and cards of encouragement. What my goal is is to be loving with my words and show it through my actions. Do I always succeed in
this? No, but I try. This can have a positive affect on those in our church family. This type of love will
unify and hold us together.

My pastor is very wise in his knowledge of the Bible and lets us know what the truth of the Word is.....even if it hurts. This is how he shows love to us. This is how he wants us to learn and grow in our God. We all have different gifts and talents to use for our God within the church. Just remember
though that actions always speak louder and words not spoken can sometimes speak volumes. We need to make sure our words and actions build up and not tear down.