Preach Vs. Practice

 

I have had immense faith in My Lord Jesus Christ since a long time. But I may not have displayed it through my words enough to the world around me, not that I am ashamed of him. But I like to practice my faith and display it through my living than talk about it. Whenever I am reminded about my duty to tell others about my Christ, I have a small struggle inside. When I get a chance I always tell others how great he has been in my life. But to a non-Christian I have never opened up about my faith in my Lord. I don’t think I have a problem opening up to anybody about my faith, but I cannot simply tell them to follow my Christ for I believe, your faith has to come from within your heart and that won’t happen by just telling them to believe, they need to experience Christ in their lives. Our Lord is not a God who forces us to believe in him, but I am sure he would love his children to come to him voluntarily. But for that to happen I think I need to talk about him to others more often.

From my earlier childhood itself I have been exposed to many people preaching about my Christ but they fail living up to what they preach. So I have been put down by the idea of preaching because they don’t practice them. So I am afraid that if I also start preaching, people will write me also off as someone who talks a lot and has no actual faith to display.

I have always followed few things in life which I hope have helped others to see Christ in me. I hate lying and I always try to be honest with myself and others. I have this principle that I should be known for the right reasons. For me material wealth, fame etc. doesn’t mean much. I stand up for myself and I live without fear of anyone, but God. These values are reflection of my God and his teachings. I don’t think enough people in my life know these things about me and I have only myself to blame, because I don’t tell people enough. There’s one more reason to me being reserved about my faith, that’s because I don’t want to show off my faith. I know many who display their faith in order to achieve fame in the eyes of others. I don’t want to be numbered among those people. How can show people that I am genuine better than through my life? So I stuck to practicing my faith than preaching. But I think preach without practice is not good. How about practice and not preach? I guess that is also not good enough.

I somehow cannot make up my mind to stand up in a crowd and display my faith in huge loud cries or by running a parade or through elocutions after elocutions about his words. I would rather prefer to talk about him with a small group of willing listeners who genuinely want to know Christ and discuss with one another our thoughts. I am not cut out to hold debates among non-believers because to tell a non-Christian I am afraid they will despise me for trying to canvas them and I might lose them forever. I guess I do not have to follow that path instead I can tell people about my experience of Christ. And the best way to reach people at this point of time for me is through blog. And I guess I can write freely without being too conscious about it through writing. I think writing is my medium.

The Grooming:
Like many people who pin points a date and say, this is the day I have been saved and accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord in life, I do not have one. I was born into a Christian family and was raised as a Christian. I got the greater opportunity to study bible in several occasions over the 6 years I spend in my boarding school. Though I used to go to Sunday school from the age of 4 or 5, I was not regular in attending classes or going to church.

In boarding school, our days begin and end with prayers. If I take a typical day at the school, we (as if in me and my friends) had many occasions to read and mediate on bible; everyday morning devotion at 7am and 6pm. Then daily scripture classes at 9.30am. On Sundays, Sunday school is there as well as morning Sunday service at the school chapel. Also in the evening on Sunday we had sessions where we would be taught gospel songs and reading from bible and memory verse. We had quarterly scripture exams where we had to memorize 2 or 3 chapters from Psalms and coupe of Christian songs from the Golden Bells- a collection of English Christian Songs. It might sound like we all attended these out of compulsion, may be in the beginning. But I enjoyed it too. Especially these songs that we learn from our evening Sunday sessions, we get to perform during our Sunday 6pm devotion time and among the songs presented by each class, a winner is announced. During our 8th and 9th classes, on Saturday evenings, we spend time as groups studying a certified course called TAFTEE (The Association for Theological Education by Extension) that has 6 books which we classified the life of Christ in 6 divisions and we finished the course in 2 yrs. time. We did a course during our 7th via post called ‘Jeevamrutham’ can be translated as Eternal Life. But I couldn’t finish because of lack of time. Annually the school conducted bible quiz for each house and bible quest for individuals. Ample opportunities to learn several songs being part of the Christmas carol choir, practicing for the school assembly etc. Also annually The ICF (International children’s fellowship) group would come and conduct 2 or 3 days of bible camp where we are shown short films, bible classes are conducted, various new songs are taught. We all will be so thrilled and would not want them to leave. Such were the days that groomed by faith.

The Faith Test:
What I didn’t know was that my faith was going to be tested in the years that followed. At the verge of my 10th exams and passing out of school, the tragic sudden death of my father. I not only had to survive my dad’s demise, but had to survive my crooked relatives and support my mother, sis and myself. Life was tough then, but those days of my test have sure carved in me a beautiful human being. I sometimes ask myself, would I have been the same person if I had not stood those times of test? There have been times when I have asked, I had been a good girl before too, and then why God had to test me? I was never angry with God for what had happened with my life. I found comfort in his arms.

For the first time in my life, I really started feeling what is to truly believe in God. I tasted Christ in my life. In the midst of worry and hopelessness, I found hope and strength in Christ. When I afraid, when I got sick, when I had people conspiring against my family, when I had people pointing fingers at us wanting our destruction, I saw his hands and reached for it. If it had not been for him, I don’t think I would have come out straight. There were maddening times in my life, there have been times we almost felt like we would end up in the streets and no one would be there to care for us. I have learnt how to turn hatred into love, to truly forgive the ones who have wronged you, to support the weak and care for the needy, to love people without getting anything in return, all from my own home. It is easier to love the people who love you back. It is easier to return every good you have received. My Christ taught the world to love your enemies. It was not at all easy; it took me years to forgive the ones who have wronged me. With much time and patience I really understood my mother and learnt to be patient and giving. Every wound is healed by time. Everything needs time.

I remember it was very difficult for me to concentrate and mediate while I prayed. Even while my eyes were closed and sometimes not, my mind wandered off without any control. It is through my practice during boarding school that helped me. I have failed many times in my test of faith, I know. I was really angry with my mother. I held a grudge against my grandfather and my dad’s siblings for their ill treatment. I was short tempered and I had no patience whatsoever. But things started changing. My grandfather became ill and passed away, my uncle became silent and my aunts got busy in their lives and I felt peace in my house. To add to the joy, after several proposals my sis got married, I passed my MBA entrance and got enrolled to my choice of college in Bangalore. God blessed me once again pairing me with my life partner.

I feel immense peace and joy in my life today. That doesn’t mean that I don’t come across small issues in my life. Of course I struggle with certain issues even today. But my past has made me stronger. God has made me stronger, wiser to handle every issue in my life today.

Through each experience God made me wiser. But it was prayers and his words that comforted me through the valley of darkness. I felt many times when I was troubled he spoke to me through his words, showed me how he cared for me, blessed me, assured me with his promises, and loved me above all. Today I am enjoying the fruits of his blessings mercy and love. Every privilege I have today is because of my Lord Jesus Christ.

My life is my testimony to God. He has touched my life and it has never been the same. I have confessed all my sins to him and he has forgiven me and keeps me safe in his arms.


The Book:
The only regret I still have is that I am not able to pray and find to read and study bible regularly. Sometimes I feel that probably for everything God has set a time for, may be that’s why even after several attempts and trials I get distracted by the daily chores. But I am eager to learn bible even more. Each verse in the book is has so much depth and each time you read it, you find something new in them.

For many people it is a ritual to read few words from bible, but reading shouldn’t be treated that way. It is a book to be read, studied and mediated upon. It is food for soul. If you read it, you will understand that there’s nothing in it that can’t solve any problems in your life. It is an answer for all your issues. I once read an interesting mail about how we should treat our bible and it as follows:

 Bible vs Cellphones

1. What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
2. What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
3. What if we flipped through it several times a day?
4. What if we used it to receive messages?
5. What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
6. What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
7. What if we used it as we traveled?
8. What if we used it in case of an emergency?
9. What if we upgraded it to get the latest version?


This is something to make you go, hmmm, where is my Bible? Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cell phones, we don’t ever have to worry about our bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill!
To know Christ, we need to read the bible. I felt the best gift I could give someone to display my faith was the book itself, God gave me the opportunity to send it to 2 of my non-Christian friends. I hope they read it and come to know Christ. Come, read the book, know him. I urge you to read it coz once you read it you will understand that it is one book that not only makes perfect sense but also is something that talks about practical things. That’s all I have for you.