DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE?

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 (The Message)  Friends, let me go over the Message with you one final time--this Message that I proclaimed and that you made your own; this Message on which you took your stand and by which your life has been saved. (I'm assuming, now, that your belief was the real thing and not a passing fancy, that you're in this for good and holding fast.)  The first thing I did was place before you what was placed so emphatically before me: that the Messiah died for our sins, exactly as Scripture tells it; that he was buried; that he was raised from death on the third day, again exactly as Scripture says 

I understand that some people have an issue with the Message version of the Bible but this one just hit me.  I read this verse in other versions of the Bible and it was great, but for obvious reasons, the Message version spoke volumes to me.  You see for many years I was confused about so called "Christians".   They said they were Christians, they professed that  they believed in Jesus more than I did as a Catholic at the time.  Yet, their words and actions made me question their true belief.  The old "talking the talk but not walking the walk" characteristic.  They had memorized Bible verses.  They went to church every Sunday.  They went to Bible study classes.  They read the Bible. They were baptized along with their children, yet their fruit didn't seem to measure up with what I was hearing in my Catholic church.

That is a big part of the reason I stayed Catholic for so long.   If that was what a Christian looked like, I didn't want any part of it.  I remained a Catholic Christian.  Then I met some real Christians.  Ones who walked the walk as well as talk the talk.  They people who spoke in love and compassion.  They forgave others and never judged anyone.  They were uplifting and real.  They knew the Bible and had memorized verses, but they lived them out also.  Their actions and words lifted people up.  That was the type of Christian I wanted to be.  

I remember the first time I walked into a "Christian" church with a dear friend, Jim Lange.  I was full of doubt and fear.  I prayed for God to give me a sign if I was on the right track.  Well the band was playing a secular song before service began.  They didn't sing the words, just played the music.  Jerry looked at me and asked what I had prayed  about.  So I told him I asked God to give me a sign.  Jerry said "Well, here's your sign."  You see the band was playing a song called "The Breeze".  That may not sound significant to you, but to me that was my sign.  You see my dad had died 4 years before and his nickname was Breeze.

Do you get why this verse in the Message hit me?  You see as far as I understand, the Salvation Prayer, is something very important in our belief, but sadly there are many people who say it without really believing it.  In my opinion and my experience, when you say that prayer, truly say it and believe it, than our life slowly begins to change.  Our words slowly begin to change and our actions slowly begin to change.  So if we do not change our words, our actions and our lives, then  let me ask, do we really believe or are we just talking the talk, unwilling to walk the walk?  

(I'm assuming, now, that your belief was the real thing and not a passing fancy, that you're in this for good and holding fast.)  

Just going to church and memorizing Bible verses and saying the Salvation prayer, does not make us a true believer.  If we don't change from our sinful nature, then this prayer we said is meaningless and empty.  If we don't allow our hearts to be softened, then this prayer is pointless. Only when we allow God to change us, only when our words begin to change, only when our actions begin to be more like Jesus, only through transformation does that say we are a true believer.  So is our faith the real thing or just a passing fancy?  Did we say the Salvation prayer because we truly believe it or just to please our parents?  Think about it.  If we truly believe than it seems to me there must be some change in our lives, our words and our actions.  But that's just my opinion!

Lord, transform me from the inside out.  Let your words pour forth from my mouth.  Let my actions become your actions.  Let my heart love like you love.  Let me forgive like you forgive, in Jesus name I pray, amen!