%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 My primary Writing.com blog. |
 Prompt for September 24, 2025: What is the difference between actually living your faith or just professing it? Which one is where you stand? Are there any changes you need to make or ways to improve your current circumstances? This is a complicated question because it requires you to think about faith on two levels. 1. What even is your faith? 2. What does it mean to live your faith? I'd argue that the first question is more important and more often overlooked by many Christian believers, because they conflate their faith (i.e., the actual tenets of their religion) with their church (i.e., the organization that represents and expresses their religion). Given the depressing statistics about the very small number of believers who actually open and read their Bible outside of church services, I think it's safe to say that a large percentage of Christians get their theology from the pulpit. And while there's nothing wrong with following the tutelage of a trained ministry leader in a general sense, it's also important to be discerning about what you're hearing and make sure that it's in alignment with your religious texts. Christianity, for many, has become an identity not for its adherence to the teachings of Jesus Christ, but for its adherence to political ideology. I oppose abortion and same-sex relationships and believe prayer should be allowed in public schools, therefore I am a Christian. Or worse, for its adherence to performative practice. I attend church and even give money to it, therefore I'm a Christian. The thing is, neither of those things are inherently Christian by themselves. There are plenty of faithful Christians support a woman's right to choose, and same-sex relationships, and the separation of church and state. Just like there are plenty of performative Christians out there who think going to church on Sunday and putting on a good show absolves them of anti-Christian behavior like immorality and hate. You can't begin to have a conversation about the difference between living your faith and professing it until you settle on what your faith even is. For me, I look to the Bible to define my faith. Which is not to say that I believe the Bible is inerrant (i.e., 100% free from any kind of error); I believe the Bible is absolutely divinely inspired and true, but that it's not always meant to be interpreted literally from a historical or scientific standpoint. And using that interpretation of the Bible, the narrative around faith is very clear: we are saved through Jesus who commands us to love God, love others, do unto others as we would have them do to us, and repent when we sin. We are to prioritize service, humility, selflessness, forgiveness, and following Jesus' example. The Bible doesn't say anything specifically about voting for candidates who are Pro Life, nor does it say it's okay to hate people because they're immigrants or Democrats, nor does it say that showing up to church a couple times a month and putting on a good show while tossing a couple bucks onto the offering plate checks all the boxes when it comes to your salvation. Other people's mileage may vary, but according to my faith, the difference between living my faith and just professing it is whether I just post the tenets of my faith in this blog post, or if I go out into the world and live them. It's easy to tell people that Christians are called to forgive; it's hard to actually stand up in front of tens of thousands of people and forgive the person who assassinated your husband, as Erika Kirk did just a few days ago. It's easy to tell people that they need to love one another; it's hard to face someone you genuinely dislike and still see the inherent value and beauty in them as a fellow child of God. It's easy to tell people that they should repent for their sins; it's hard to look at your own life and realize the level of idolatry you're committing to your reputation or your money. While understanding that Christians are saved through grace and that "good works" are not a requirement for salvation, given how easy it is to say something and how hard it is to actually live it out, I tend to believe that living your faith is where you need to stand. When I was younger, my dad would often tell me to do something and I would reply, "But you don't do that, why do I have to do that?" And his response would invariably be, "Do as I say, not as I do." Which, on the one hand, I can understand if you're admitting that you're too weak to do something and you're trying to teach someone to learn from your mistakes and be better. On the other hand, my dad wasn't a raging alcoholic struggling with addiction telling me to not drink; he would tell me to help my mom carry groceries in from the car as he sat on the couch reading the newspaper. Or he'd tell me to prioritize my school work and take it seriously even though he famously did not do either of those things all the way through college. So I'm admittedly I'm a bit programmed to side with deeds in the "words versus deeds" debate, but I don't think that makes it any less true. There are certainly places where words can be impactful and maybe even the better option, but I think most places in our lives benefit from how we show our faith, rather than just how we tell it. Like any Christian, I am certainly not perfect and have plenty of work to do on myself to live up to these ideals. (Beware any Christian who thinks that they don't!) But that's what makes the Christian faith so powerful. You don't need to be perfect, and your struggles become your testimony which can reach others. I just happen to think that your testimony shouldn't be a bunch of hollow words that you don't even follow yourself. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
