Does Our Life Reflect What We Say We Believe?

By Pastor Ron Miyake

The other day as I was listening to radio station 99.5 KKLA, I heard Dr. Ravi Zacharias (www.rzim.org) make this statement: “There are those who claim that God is dead and who live like God is dead. But the greater worry I have is in the church where people claim God is alive but then turn around and act as if He were dead.”

This quote really struck me. It made me wonder… Do our lives really reflect what we say we believe about God and His Word?  Does the church, those of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus Christ, live in a way that reflects faith in God and who He is? Do our lives reflect believing in and living in the hope of God’s promises in His Word, having lives that reflect the Holy Spirit in us, being who God says we are, doing the things that God calls His people to do? OR are we living in a way that contradicts what we say we believe?

Thinking of this reminded me of a phrase that I used in a sermon back on September 14, 2014 regarding faith:

Faith in God is…

My heartfelt inner conviction that God is who He says He is, He does what He says He will do, and I am who He says I am.

(This definition was modified from something I read in the Life Application Study Bible on Genesis 15:6.)

Thinking about this definition of faith, I’ve been trying to be aware of these three areas when I read or listen to the Bible. I’m trying to make note of descriptions of who God is, His promises concerning what He did and what He will do, and what He has to say about those who are His followers. 

Then after I see these things in Scripture, my prayer is, “Lord, help me to remember these truths in Your Word and to live by them.”

Irene Mar made a postcard based on this definition of faith that I used. It includes descriptions that the Women’s Branch came up with for each of these three areas. You can pick up a copy of this card at the church office. 

May we be a people whose lives reflect what we say we believe.