Action Words

Show me. Don't Tell Me. (from Daily Encounter)

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (James 1:22, NKJV).

"There's a wonderful scene near the end of the movie 'My Fair Lady' in which Eliza Doolittle sings words that God must also sing. She says, 'Words! Words! Words! I'm so sick of words.... If you're in love, Show me!'"

Yesterday we talked about the importance and power of words. However, if words are spoken only from the head and not the heart, and are misused to impress, flatter, manipulate, or don't mean a thing to the one who speaks them, they can be worse than useless.

It's the same with our Christian witness. If we say we are a believer and don't act accordingly, what does it mean? It means nothing.

I recall seeing a poster on the wall of the office where I attended college. It read:

The living truth is what I long to see
I cannot live on what used to be
So close your Bible and show me how
The Christ you talk about is living now.

As Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."



My Thoughts:

Very true. "Verbs" are action words. Whenever someone uses a "verb" (e.g. run, walk, sit , eat, etc) we expect to see action.

However, very often we forget that the word "love" is a verb of "verbs". When we say we "love" someone we are suppose to show the actions that follow it.

A pastor once said he prefers to use the word "care" to the word "love" because people tend to associate "love" with feelings only. They forget that "love" requires many actions. On the other hand, the act of caring is a form of "love" even though you don't feel romantic about it. When you care, you are expressing your will to love.

Just like what the poem says in the above article, Christians must walk their talks. If a person says he wants to 'seek God' more, and by so doing he begins to care for you less, what do you call that?