Week of 6/9-6/15: Living in Light - The King Preserves

Day Three: 1 John 2:15-19 Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For everything that belongs to the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s lifestyle—is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God’s will remains forever. Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard, “Antichrist is coming,” even now many antichrists have come. We know from this that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us”  

“IT’S NOT WHAT YOU SAY, IT’S WHAT YOU DO.” This is a fairly popular statement used today to describe the importance of how actions must accompany promises made by words, if they’re to be believed. Many people will vow to do something or will make claims to have particular beliefs, but their actions do not match what they claim. When this happens, it becomes difficult to trust that person in the future.

It is not uncommon any longer for people to say one thing publicly but do something completely different when people aren’t around. It seems ridiculous because our actions really tell others who we are. It is a like a basketball team coming on to the court for a game, but instead of playing basketball, they begin running football plays. They can claim to be a basketball team all they want to, but their actions do not match what they say they’re doing. If someone claimed to be a swimmer, but never got into the water and went swimming, their actions would not match their words.

Similarly, God’s people need to do more than simply talk about perseverance, their actions must match. The people of God show their perseverance by their actions. When persecuted for beliefs, they continue standing for and sharing those beliefs. When facing difficult circumstances in life, they continue trusting God rather than giving way to worldly worrying. Perseverance is a verb that requires actions.

PAUSE AND REFLECT

▷▷What are the different type of ways perseverance is demonstrated through actions?

▷▷What reasons do you think so many people have a dichotomy between their words and actions?