Monday, July 18, 2016

Testimony

When you and I hear the word "testimony" we usually think of a courtroom. We can easily get an image in our minds of someone being sworn in, one hand on the Bible, the other hand raised in the air, promising to tell "the truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth."

We have laws in our country making it a punishable offense to lie under oath in a courtroom. It's called perjury. Yet, perjury can only be proven if somebody else testifies against you. But what if THEY are lying?

As I was reading my Bible this morning I came across a few verses from the Book of John.

31 “If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true." - John 5:31 and . . .

41 “I do not receive honor from men. 42 But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you." - John 5:41-42

Those verses brought another verse to mind

‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. 9 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’" - Matthew 15:8-9

I think Jesus is trying to tell us a couple of things here. One is that we cannot trust anyone but God to tell the truth. And two, our words might lie but our actions always testify to the real truth about us.

One thing I can be guilty of is when someone asks me to pray for them. I always say I will pray, but then I get busy and sometimes I forget to do so. It's unintentional, but I have lied just the same. To help combat this, if you ask me for prayer in person, we will most likely be praying together, right then and there.

Do our actions speak louder than our words? Where does our heart truly lie?

I get confused when I see people on Facebook, people who have said they are Christian, just ripping apart someone in their Facebook posts. How is that possible? Unless they are really NOT Christian in their beliefs . . .

Our actions are the evidence of our beliefs.

What would people say about us and our faith? Is there enough evidence presented in the living of our lives to convict us of being a Christian? There should be.

When I was at Lifest last weekend I heard a band named For King and Country, They performed a song that got my attention and inspired me to write this story. The name of the song was The Proof of Your Love. Part of the song is spoken and it goes like this. It's from Paul's letter to the Corinthians . . .

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love." - 1 Corinthians 13:1-7

We must live our lives as a testimony, not only of WHO we are, but WHOSE we are. When Jesus first called His disciples what did He tell them to do?

He told them to "follow me."

And so . . . we should. Follow His example. Flow His leading, living our lives as He did. Let our love be our testimony, let our love be the proof.

The Proof Of Your Love - For King and Country 


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