“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” – James 1:22 (KJV).
When we profess to the world that we are Christians, the expectation is that we are going to behave like Christ. The trouble is most of us do not behave like him. How then can we say we are Christians?
There was an elderly Christian woman who was a worker in one of the Pentecostal churches in Nigeria and another woman that was just a church goer. The elderly Christian woman then bought some items from the church goer and asked that she should inflate the price so that her husband would pay more thus giving her extra income! The church goer did it for some time and later stopped on account of her conscience but further stated rhetorically, how can an elderly worker be cheating her husband and she presents herself as a true Christian!
The problem with such a behavior is that such people are dragging the name of Christ in the mud and no matter what they preach, they cannot win any significant number of people to Christ.
Our behavior preach better than the words of our mouth or tracts that we distribute! This is why the bible states in James 1:22 (KJV): “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
We should live a honest life and not a life of deceit where our actions are at variance from what we profess as Christians.
Being doers of the word of God also implies bridling our tongue. We should not be babblers saying everything such that people cannot trust their secrets with us. The bible says any man who cannot control his tongue is deceiving himself if he says he is a Christian.
Prayer : Holy Spirit help me to be a doer of your word and not a mere hearer in Jesus name.
Bro. Biodun Oyapero