Often, a person’s inner self is exposed through their words. Some people will surprise you with genuine and beautiful words. Others, however, will make you think, “No way, I’d rather stay far away. I wouldn’t touch them with a bargepole!” 

People’s actions often reveal more than their words. But it actually also works the other way around – actions show what’s really going on in your heart. And yes, sometimes it’s nice to see, but other times you don’t even want to go and find a bargepole. 

If someone’s words and actions don’t match, it confuses everyone around them. Nice talk doesn’t mean a thing if your actions don’t show it – people notice it quickly, and then they just quietly turn around and walk away. 

It’s not hard to understand. What’s going on inside your heart, the person you are and who you’re not, even your thoughts, scream the truth through your actions: This is who I am! 

So, when we say we are God’s children, our actions must show the same. Then, when we say nothing and just do, people will see and know exactly who we believe in and whose children we are. Then it’s clearly visible that we’re part of God’s family. 

24As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us.  

Living according to God’s commands makes our faith visible to others. When we believe in Jesus, we become part of God’s family, and part of the package is to love our neighbour, with everything in us. 

This is where many of us fail because we struggle with our closest neighbour. You see, our neighbour is not just the neighbour in the house next door, or our employer or colleagues. Our neighbours are not merely acquaintances or strangers; they are our family, those closest to us.  

And this is where we easily lower our defence mechanisms and cross the line. Then we say and do things that we later regret. This is precisely where we quickly lose control of our tongue. Here we easily cross the lines of decency – with catastrophic consequences. 

And when we behave like this, others wonder what is happening in our hearts. When we act like this, it seems as if we’re not really part of God’s family, and it feels as if we are back on the streets. Alone and lost. 

I believe this happens when we remove God from the centre of our lives and try to control our plans and desires. But if we put God first and allow Him to have the rightful place in our lives again, other people will notice it by how we act, speak and treat others. 

Fortunately, we don’t have to do it alone. The Holy Spirit is with us to help. We need to allow Him to be more active in our lives. When we walk through life with the Holy Spirit, we won’t let our spiritual family down – on the contrary, people will be able to clearly see that Jesus is the King of our lives.  

Scripture
1 John 3:18-24 

Reflection
Do I leave enough space in my life for the Holy Spirit?
Can others see that Jesus is King of my life?
Does my life show that I am walking with God? 

Prayer
Father, help me to always live in such a way that others can see You sitting on my throne. Help me to also shine Your light on the people closest to me. At all times. Amen.