"LET'S GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT"

Oh boy, us Christians are talkers.  At church we can talk about the love of God, we can talk about our church, we can talk about how much good we are doing for the community, we talk about how much time and money we give, we talk about how great our God is, but are we living what we are talking about?  I see Facebook posts by Christians that warm my heart about how great God is, I hear stories from Christians about how great God is.  We go to church and we proclaim the Glory of God, we raise our hands and shout with joy, we talk the talk, but unfortunately not all of us walk the walk.  Trust me I am including myself in this.  We keep our mouths running to impress other believers with our faith.  At church we are true believers, true Christians and true disciples of Jesus Christ. Then we get in our cars and all that love, all that talk flies out the window.

We get in our cars and forget everything we just heard and everything we just said.  Come on now let's get real honest here.  Someone's in a hurry and cuts us of in the church parking lot and what happens? Our temper flares up and our mouth starts to twinge and we lose it!  Fingers fly and words fly.  Really?  We just got out of church, didn't we?  We go to the drive thru at McDonalds and the girl screws up our order and we yell and throw a fit, really?   I know we are human and we all make mistakes, but in my mind, us Christians need to be a beacon of hope in a lost world.  We need to be an example of Jesus Christ, not Satan.  We need to stand above and not crawl around in the garbage.  Our words, our actions, our behavior, our lives are a testament to the Glory of God or at least they should be.   The attitude of a true believer of Jesus Christ should be one of acceptance, love, joy, peace. patience, and kindness.  I once heard a line that really caught my attention;

"ATTITUDE IS CONTAGIOUS, IS YOURS WORTH CATCHING?"    

Well?  Is it?  Is your attitude one that you would like others to have towards you?  Think about it.  The old saying, "Treat others like you would want to be treated" still rings true today.  

Before I verbally accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior, I watched Christians that I knew.  Truthfully, that is why I never wanted to be labeled a Christian.  I would rather have stayed Catholic than be like those that I knew.  They were rude, they made fun of others, teased others, they played nasty tricks on people and behaved in ways they wouldn't have in church.  "Oh it's all in fun" is the comment I would hear.  Well what if it hurt someone?  They didn't stop to think about that, nor did they care about that.  Honestly their attitude was not worth catching.  I wanted and still do not want any part of their faith because it is phony.  A true believer, a true Christian, a true follower of Jesus will live his life the same way in church as out of church.  As a disciple of Jesus Christ, I have a responsibility to live my life as an example of Jesus.  Trust me I do not do it perfectly, but I try.   I watch my words, my actions, my behavior, and I live my life as a testament to the Glory of God as best I can.  I want my attitude to be one that people want to catch.   

Isa 29:13  And the Lord said: "Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men"

This verse is so true of what I have been talking about.  So many of us talk the talk, but do not walk the walk.  Whether we are in church or outside of church, our attitude is contagious.  We can pretend all we want, we may us our mouth and lips to praise God but our heart never lies.  Talk is cheap!  Actions speak louder than words!  What comes out of our mouth during a stressful situation reveals the true nature of our heart.  We should always do our best to behave in ways that glorify God whether we are in church or not.  Others may not always be watching us, but God is and God not only hears our words or sees our actions, He sees the true nature of our heart.  If we knew God was standing right beside us, would we act the way we are, would we talk the way we talk? Think about it.   Let's give them something to talk about that is positive.  "I want what they have.  They are so happy and loving no matter what they are going through."

Lord, use my words and my actions to give glory to you everywhere I go.  Guard my mouth so that I may not sin against you.  Create a clean heart in me so that I may be a living example of you wherever I go, in Jesus name I pray, amen!