Believe and Behaviour
Human beings are different from other creations of God. One major distinguishing factor is that humans can believe in something or believe something. Other creations of God don’t have capacity to believe in anything.
Jesus came and asked people to believe the gospel, which he called the good news.
What you believe determines how you behave. If what you believe does not determine how you behave, then you truly don’t believe that thing.
In our time, many people claim to believe the gospel. That is why they refer to themselves as believers. But it is regrettable that there is a very wide gap between the behaviour of those who claim to be believers and what they believe.
Believing is a heart-thing. It’s an intangle act. I can’t see or know what you believe except I see your bebaviour. Any belief that does not translate to a change in behaviour is fake and it is a fluke.
As undergraduate student believers in the 80s on campus, you cannot mistake a believer from an unbeliever. The simple distinguishing fact is in lifestyle choices and practices. Believers had their ways of doing things that unbelievers could identify. Today, the story is different. Everything is muddled up. You can’t tell a believer and unbeliever apart anymore.
People go to church, year of after year, yet their lifestyle choices remain fundamentally unchanged. You can’t trust them in little things. They have little or no scruples with lies, deceit, and malice. When they are upset over matters, the words that proceed out of their mouths are too caustic to be imagined. Yet, they are believers.
Christianity is called the Faith. Faith is a product of believe. You can’t believe in the gospel and your behaviour, including your total lifestyle choices are not affected. If that is you, please check what you believed. You probably didn’t believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
There is strong relationship between believe and behaviour.
When you believe in a man or woman, your behaviour towards them changes. When you believe in a cause, your behaviour towards that cause changes. You can’t say you believe in a person or a cause and you are antagonist or none-supportive of that person or that cause.
Let’s say, you married a man running on a cause. You can’t say you believe in that man and you reject his cause. A man’s life and his cause are inseparable. You can’t take one and leave the other. You can’t believe in Jesus and you don’t believe in his cause – that of saving lives. If you believe in a person, you must believe in the person’s cause. But if you don’t believe in the person, that’s fine. Don’t hang around them pretending you do. Judas Iscariot is an example of a man that hanged around Jesus, but never believed in his cause. His end is there for reference.
Believe and behaviour are two sides of the same coin. It’s only fake people who try to separate these two.
Let your lifestyle reflect what you believe. And when you are described by your lifestyle, don’t try to explain that it is not you. Unless you admit you are fake.
Jesus called those that believe in him and follow him, “disciples”. The world called those that acted like Jesus “Christians”. Christians are known to the world, not only by their “words”, but by their “acts”.
Are you a believer in “word” only or a believer in “word and in acts”?
As you live your life, take time to reflect on what you believe to see if it aligns with your behaviour. Receive grace to begin to make adjustments where necessary.
The Lord be with you.
Rev. Dr. Joseph Ibekwe