More Done Than Said

1 John 3:18 “Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”

Maturity lives out the reality of the life within us because it is not theoretical methodology or simple philosophy. Perhaps you have heard the phrase, “When all is said and done, there is far more said than done.”

Paul preached in Acts 17 at the Areopagus, to “all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there [who] used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.” (Acts 17:21) These men and women were philosophers and they were always investigating new theories and philosophical arguments. It was their way of life and they enjoyed it. They rarely did anything with this knowledge and theory; they simply liked discussing various ideas. This way of approaching life, including religious life, is common among many people. I was sitting with a group of pastors discussing how we should deal with AIDS in Africa, what actions we could take to do something about it. In the midst of this discussion a pastor from Africa made some suggestions and I told the others we should listen to him. For the rest of us this discussion was theoretical, but this brother from Africa was living with the realities of it every day. He was already doing something and we needed to join with him.

Spend time at the feet of Jesus, spend time studying God’s word and praying constantly. Grow up in your faith with the necessary effort it takes to grow every day. But live it out then as you develop in your faith, don’t keep it all bottled up inside of you. Consider the difference between the Sea of Galilee in Israel and the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is... dead. Nothing lives in it. Water made its way into the Dead Sea, but it never leaves it. On the other hand, the Sea of Galilee is fresh and alive with fish and activity. Water comes into it and continues on, it does not stay. I think this is a great example of how a believer’s life can become stagnant and dead spiritually rather than growing and maturing. We are always being filled up by the work of God in our lives, but if it never goes back out to others we can become stagnant like the Dead Sea.

No, no one is good at this automatically. This is a truth you must take to heart. The writer of Hebrews gave us some great direction:

Heb 5:14 “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”

You must practice your senses; train them towards the will of God and discerning between good and evil. I encourage you to practice living out your faith in daily living; practice sending the water on, so too speak. Don’t make the mistake of just sitting around talking, love in deed and truth…not just words. You will grow and mature as you send the water on. In this way we will not fall prey to more said than done, we will have done more than said.

God help us to grow in our faith and live out our faith. Help us to grow up and be mature men and women of God who live out the reality of the life that is in us.