Have you ever played the game Simon Says?
When I served in youth ministry, I would go to Winter Conference with the youth group every year. And every year we would play this game called “Clayton Says”. It was a more intense version of Simon Says led by the conference leader, Clayton King. And let me tell you- he was good. I mean GOOD!
It was a very fast-paced game. He would shout, “Clayton says touch your ear!” as he touched his nose. So I, of course, would touch my nose. Every. Single. Time. Why? Because actions speak louder than words.
It’s an age-old truth.
We see many examples of this in the Bible. Perhaps the best example was Simon Peter himself. In Matthew 26:35 he says that he will never deny Jesus. To be exact, Simon Peter says,
“Even if I have to die with You… I will never deny You!”
But just a few short verses later, a day or two in real life, when the time came for him to put those words into action, look what happened-
“Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. ‘You also were with Jesus of Galilee,’ she said. But he denied it before them all. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he said. Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, ‘This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.’ He denied it again, with an oath: ‘I don’t know the man!’ After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, ‘Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.’ Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, ‘I don’t know the man!’” Matthew 26:69-74
Simon Peter, the same guy that said, “I will never deny You,” denied Jesus. His actions didn’t match his words. And his actions meant more. His actions spoke louder than his words.
Paul cautioned Titus about people like this in Titus 1:16, “They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny Him.”
We need to be wary of this ourselves and ask ourselves a couple of questions:
- Do my words match my actions?
- Would an outsider looking in know that I’m a Christian by the way I act?
People who don’t follow Christ are observing Christians to see if their actions match their words. When our words line up with our actions it gives credibility to our character, to our faith, and to our Jesus.
Our lives speak louder than our words.
John said in 1 John 3:18, “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. “
Heavenly Father, strengthen us to honor You. Lord, let our lives, the way we live, the way we act, the way we love, and the way we treat people, speak of You. In everything we say and in everything we do, may we glorify You. In the precious name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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