Outspoken Faith:

Throughout this last year, I have been reading the Extreme Devotion from the Voice of the Martyrs.  This goes through personal stories of those who were willing to devote their entire life, even if this meant death for the sake of the Gospel.  This has been incredibly inspiring to me, even if I still have a lot more fear in my heart of death and suffering than those who are mentioned in this book. 

Something I love about this book is the encouragement at the end of the daily devotional.  One quote from this was, “Define your faith by what you do, not simply by what you do not do.  Are you known for merely being a good person or for being a good person with an outspoken faith?”  (pg.284)  This is maybe a good thing to consider.  Do I spend a lot of time considering what kind of a Christian I am?Would I say I believe I am a Christian who is considered very faith forward?  Would I say I am known for my outspoken faith, for my love of Jesus that just spills out of me whenever I’m talking to others?

Sometimes I struggle to compare myself to the certain things I haven’t done that are bad for Christians to do.  I will even compare myself to non Christians.  I will, at times, believe I am a better person than those who are doing evil things or degrading things. This doesn’t mean I haven’t sinned.  The bad thoughts, the judgements of other people, the inappropriate words and languages I will use can be just as evil or degrading.  

Also, if I am honest I am not the best at being really outspoken in my faith.  I spend time in the children’s ministry at my church.  I also spend a lot of time volunteering, but I don’t necessarily spend a lot of time telling people about God.  I would like to spend more time telling others about God and really spending time in God with His love with other people.  

There are many verses throughout the Bible talking about faith and how we are saved through grace. The book of James, though, reminds us of how important active faith is.  This is also what we have been talking about lately at Trinity Bible church.  One of the most popular verses from James is James 2:26 which says, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” 

This is sometimes considered to be a controversial verse.  It can almost seem like a legalistic verse.  It can seem that it is saying we need to be saved by our works.  This is not what the verse is supposed to say.  It is important to remember we are saved through God’s grace.  The first half of the verse highlights this.  It reminds us the body without the spirit or without Christ is dead.  We can not do work for the Lord without the Spirit of Christ in our body.  

However, this also highlights we need to be changed, or should be changed internally and therefore externally by the Spirit of Christ.  When we become a Christian, we should have a new heart filled with love for God’s people and the people of the world in general.  We should see how God works in the world and how we can have a part in it.   

The challenge for this week is to think of one thing you can do this week to showcase active faith.  Is there one person you can tell the Gospel to? Is there someone who God has been putting on your heart?  Is there a person who you know needs a little bit more love or patience?  Maybe it is a person who you have seen have gone through intense grief or intense trauma in the recent past.

I have been called to show love to a few individuals in my life who are really struggling.  There have been some friends and family members who have really been going through death in the family, health issues, and other major crises.  I have been called to show love.  However, I think I need to also spend some time on how I can show/tell them the Gospel.