Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Luke 12:8-9 – I assure you that whoever declares publicly that he belongs to me, the Son of Man will do the same for him before the angels of God. But whoever rejects me publicly, the Son of Man will also reject him before the angels of God. (GNB)

When I was younger, I often remember walking downtown in San Antonio, Texas, hearing people standing outside on the corner sidewalk with a bullhorn calling all to repentance and to turn our lives to God. I remember thinking that this was very invasive, and, not only that, but loud. I believe that God calls us to declare daily His unconditional love and His mercy, but I do not believe that we need to "shout" it out quite in the same way. As we begin to walk with the Lord, as we begin to know Him better through prayer and reading the scriptures, I believe that He gently nudges us to softly declare His goodness and salvation for all in the little things that we do. When we respond in love to others who choose to abuse us verbally, when we call upon the Holy Spirit to calm our hearts and allow us to "stand firm" and respond in kindness, then we are more effective witnesses to His power to change us to be more like Him.

I was reminded of this during the past week when I had a confrontation with a mother whose child suffers from bipolar disorder. In my teaching experience, I have had many opportunities to supervise undergraduate and graduate students in speech pathology, and, in this instance, I had taken a young lady under my wing, determined to give her a good student teaching experience. Instead, I became the target of the mother's anger when the student broke down and could not take the demands of the student teaching assignment. After I got to hear about how uncaring and unresponsive I was to her child, I was confronted with the fact that the cross on my necklace did little to identify me as a Christian. I was taken aback for just a second and then at that moment, I chose to ask the Holy Spirit to give me the ability to listen, accept and acknowledge the mother's feelings, instead of responding to it personally. I know that this mother was trying to do what was best for her daughter, but she may have been doing too much. I continue to pray for this student, her mother and myself daily. I am also reminded of the scripture that says, "Look to Him to direct your paths, your words, your thoughts, and you will find that He will guide you in all His ways." (Proverbs 3:5-6 paraphrased)

Prayer: Heavenly Father, give us the grace and strength daily to call others to You by our thinking, behaviour and actions which often speak ever so much louder than our words. Amen.

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