Words. We hear them everyday from all sorts of places. We hear songs on the radio, watch TV shows, talk to other people and we even hear our own words. I think I heard that the average person speaks 10,000 words a day. Which means that the average person hears at least that many every day and probably more. That's a lot.
So today I want to talk about words, indirectly anyway. See we hear things all the time and we say things all the time. I tell my girlfriend, D, that I love her regularly. Those words sound great and they feel great to say. What's even better is when I hear her tell me the same thing back. It feels awesome and I know she means them. But how do I know she means what she says? Or how does she know that I mean what I say? The answer is really simple. It doesn't require a great leap of faith or many hours of prayer and fasting to figure it out.
All D has to do to know if my words are true is watch my actions. Do they line up with my words? I tell her that I love her and then I do my best to show her that I love her. I consciously consider whether or not my actions are lining up with my words.
This same thing applies to other places as well. If I tell someone that I will do something and I don't then my actions and words don't line up. I remember several months ago, I promised to take all the kids to a place called Main Event here in Fort Worth. This place has bowling, laser tag and video games and the kids love it. Now when the day arrived, I was feeling a little sick and I didn't want to go. When I told the kids, my daughter said, "But Dad, you gave your word." I had a choice to make. I could either go back on my word and do something else or I could go and feel a little sick in the process. Let me just say that while I didn't feel good, I wasn't completely sick or I would have stayed home. I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't be smart and weigh the consequences of the situation. But in this case, I should have taken the kids and we ultimately did.
Let me turn this blog in a slightly different direction and I will get to my point for today. Many of us say that we are Christians but unfortunately our actions don't line up very well with our words. I heard a story and whether or not it is true, it illustrates a good point. A pastor of a church had a friend who ran a restaurant close to the church. One day he and his friend were talking and the restaurant owner said to the pastor, "You know I have a lot of trouble getting people to work on Sunday."
"Why is that?" the pastor asked.
"Because the people from your church are the worst tippers and treat the wait staff rudely," he said.
I can't tell you how many times I have heard of Christians that I would never want to do business with because of the lack of integrity that I have seen.
So here is the real point. The bible says in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave...." If we are going to say that we are Christians, it's high time we started giving. When we go to a place to eat, the waiters ought to fight with each other to see who gets our table because we are such generous people. When is the last time you gave to someone without expecting anything in return? I hope the answer is recently. But if not, it's time to make a change. Remember God gives to us every day and he does it because he loves us. If we are telling people that we are Christians, isn't it high time our actions lined up with our words?
That's another Opinion of the Minion
So today I want to talk about words, indirectly anyway. See we hear things all the time and we say things all the time. I tell my girlfriend, D, that I love her regularly. Those words sound great and they feel great to say. What's even better is when I hear her tell me the same thing back. It feels awesome and I know she means them. But how do I know she means what she says? Or how does she know that I mean what I say? The answer is really simple. It doesn't require a great leap of faith or many hours of prayer and fasting to figure it out.
All D has to do to know if my words are true is watch my actions. Do they line up with my words? I tell her that I love her and then I do my best to show her that I love her. I consciously consider whether or not my actions are lining up with my words.
This same thing applies to other places as well. If I tell someone that I will do something and I don't then my actions and words don't line up. I remember several months ago, I promised to take all the kids to a place called Main Event here in Fort Worth. This place has bowling, laser tag and video games and the kids love it. Now when the day arrived, I was feeling a little sick and I didn't want to go. When I told the kids, my daughter said, "But Dad, you gave your word." I had a choice to make. I could either go back on my word and do something else or I could go and feel a little sick in the process. Let me just say that while I didn't feel good, I wasn't completely sick or I would have stayed home. I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't be smart and weigh the consequences of the situation. But in this case, I should have taken the kids and we ultimately did.
Let me turn this blog in a slightly different direction and I will get to my point for today. Many of us say that we are Christians but unfortunately our actions don't line up very well with our words. I heard a story and whether or not it is true, it illustrates a good point. A pastor of a church had a friend who ran a restaurant close to the church. One day he and his friend were talking and the restaurant owner said to the pastor, "You know I have a lot of trouble getting people to work on Sunday."
"Why is that?" the pastor asked.
"Because the people from your church are the worst tippers and treat the wait staff rudely," he said.
I can't tell you how many times I have heard of Christians that I would never want to do business with because of the lack of integrity that I have seen.
So here is the real point. The bible says in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave...." If we are going to say that we are Christians, it's high time we started giving. When we go to a place to eat, the waiters ought to fight with each other to see who gets our table because we are such generous people. When is the last time you gave to someone without expecting anything in return? I hope the answer is recently. But if not, it's time to make a change. Remember God gives to us every day and he does it because he loves us. If we are telling people that we are Christians, isn't it high time our actions lined up with our words?
That's another Opinion of the Minion
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