When Action Must Come Before Understanding

When Action Must Come Before Understanding

by | Jun 1, 2022 | Obedience

There are some areas of life where understanding needs to precede action. When we visit a doctor or other medical professional, for example, we want them to understand what the situation is and what is needed before they take any action in prescribing medications or treatments.  In cases like that, understanding obviously has to come before action. 
     
But in other areas of life we find situations where this “normal” way of things is reversed, and we simply have to act before we understand, counterintuitive as that may sound.  Falling in love might be a good example – we have to experience love before we can really understand it.  Following God’s instructions is often one of these situations. No amount of philosophizing can help us understand why it really is more blessed to give than to receive, for example – it is only when we do give that we begin to understand how we are blessed in giving. But it is easy to forget that sometimes action has to come before understanding. We may make the mistake of not acting on what we see in the word of God because we don’t understand why we should do or not do a certain thing.

Yet the Bible is very clear about the reality of “action before understanding” when applied to its teachings.   Notice, for example, how David expressed this fact in the Psalms: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding” (Psalm 111:10). This is not saying that if you have good understanding you will follow God’s ways (though that is true, of course), but that following God’s instructions leads to understanding them.  Another verse that makes this same point is found in the book of Exodus.

According to many translations, directly after God gave the Ten Commandments and other laws to ancient Israel the people said: “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient” (Exodus 24:7 NKJV). But the Hebrew literally says “we will do and we will hear” or “we will do and we will understand.”  Here again, as in many other instances, doing comes before “hearing” – action before understanding.

In the New Testament the principle is spelled out even more clearly. The Gospel of John records Jesus saying: “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them” (John 14:21).  This does not mean something esoteric and mystical – by “showing” himself to those who are obedient, Christ simply meant that they would come to understand and know him, just as we say “Ah! I see it now” when we come to understand something. But once again, the order is action before understanding.

In fact, this principle lies at the very heart of much of what the New Testament tells us. Compare these two very important verses in the book of Acts: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38); “And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit which God has given to those who obey Him” (Acts 5:32).   

Now the apostle Paul taught very clearly that: “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:14).  When we put these verses together we see that we cannot understand spiritual things until we receive the Spirit of God, and we have to act – to follow God’s instruction for repentance – before we can receive the Spirit.  So action must come before full understanding even from the very beginning of the Christian life.

The important thing for us to remember is that this principle does not only apply to us as new Christians – it applies to us every time we see some new guidance in God’s word.  The instruction may be clear as to what we must do, but we may only understand the guidance once we follow it – that is simply the way God often teaches us.  

Many of the individuals mentioned in Hebrews’ great “Faith Hall of Fame” chapter (Hebrews 11) understood that faith means we must sometimes act before we understand – we must obey before we fully comprehend.  These people seem to have learned a lesson we all must learn in the course of the Christian life: that faith often enables our obedience and our obedience often enables our understanding. ​

*This post was first published on our sister site, LivingWithFaith.org

Warriors in Word, Thought, and Deed

Warriors in Word, Thought, and Deed

by | Jan 15, 2022 | Overcoming, Tactical Articles, Warriors of the Way

 

The seasoned and successful warrior learns to recognize dangerous terrain from which ambush or sniper fire might come. This is just as true of the spiritual warrior as it is of physical soldiers – if we are oblivious to where attacks may come from, we are likely to fail repeatedly.

As a highly successful warrior king, David doubtless learned to be aware of areas that might conceal enemies and from which a salvo of arrows or other sudden attack might come, and we have only to read his psalms to see that he was just as aware of the directions from which spiritual attacks might come – whether from his own nature or from external enemies. Notice what he says in this regard in Psalm 141:

“Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil so that I take part in wicked deeds along with those who are evildoers …” (Psalm 141:3-4).

David’s words here are intriguing – he asks for help not to fall prey to wrongful words (“mouth” and “lips”), thoughts (“heart”), or deeds (“deeds”) that would compromise his desire to obey God, and there is more to these verses than first meets the eye. Although David does not say so explicitly, based on a pattern we find in the Psalms, he appears to list the dangers in order – not in order of sinfulness, but in order of likelihood of the danger occurring.  Here and elsewhere, he not only places the danger of wrongful speech first, but he also places a double emphasis on that danger by repeating it (“guard … my mouth,” “watch over… my lips”).

Many of the Psalms follow this same pattern in speaking of right or wrong expressed in words, then in thoughts, and finally in deeds – almost always with the same double emphasis placed on speech.  For example, the behavior of the righteous and unrighteous is contrasted in exactly this way.

We read of right behavior: “The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom, and their tongues speak what is just. The law of their God is in their hearts; their feet do not slip” (Psalm 37:30-31).  Right words are mentioned twice, then thoughts, and finally deeds.

The same pattern is found of wrong behavior: “But then they would flatter him with their mouths, lying to him with their tongues; their hearts were not loyal to him, they were not faithful to his covenant” (Psalm 78:36-37). Again, words are mentioned twice, then thoughts, and deeds.

​So it is perhaps not surprising to see this pattern in many other contexts – as when the psalmist writes:

“I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer” (Psalm 66:17-19).

Sometimes, words are only stressed once (for example, Psalm 49:3-4), but the pattern of words, thoughts, and deeds usually remains the same.

Interestingly, in the New Testament we find the apostle Paul also frequently placing speech before deeds (Colossians 3:17; 1 Timothy 4:12; etc.), as does Peter (1 Peter 3:9-11).  In stressing the great importance of speech the apostle James goes so far as to say: “Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless” (James 1:26). James follows this up by stressing: “We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check” (James 3:2).

Putting these scriptures together, we see a clear pattern that confirms what David tells us.  We must be continually alert to the dangers of our own possibly wrongful words, thoughts and deeds – and especially our words – if we are not to be surprised and overthrown by the hidden tendencies of our own nature and external temptations.

This makes good sense. If we are trying to do what is right in our lives, actual wrongful deeds may be the least likely dangers we will have to grapple with.  It is more likely that we will usually face attacks in our thoughts – and, according to what David tells us, perhaps the greatest dangers on a day to day basis come through words spoken hastily, in frustration, in anger, or in some other unconsidered way.

Understanding and remembering this bit of spiritual “military intelligence” can help us in our day to day walk. And the military analogy we have used here  is one used by the warrior David himself:

“They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim cruel words like deadly arrows. They shoot from ambush at the innocent; they shoot suddenly, without fear” (Psalm 64:3).

Keeping  in mind this principle of guarding against wrongful words, thoughts, and deeds (often in that order) can help us to remain vigilant and to avoid the surprise attacks we all sometimes face from within our own nature as well as from without.

* For further reading on this subject, download our FREE e-book Warriors of the Way: Christian Training, Combat, and Victory here.

Weighing Our Words

Weighing Our Words

by | Nov 15, 2021 | Relationships

“The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil” (Proverbs 15:28).

 
We don’t always think about words as having “weight,” but they do – whether they represent “weighty” thoughts or not.  Putting this fact another way, although we may sometimes use the expression “all words and no action,” the truth is that all words are actions that create reactions.  That is why, in the expression used in Proverbs, the heart (mind) of the righteous weighs its answers before speaking them. 

We all understand that just because something comes into our mind doesn’t mean it should come out of our mouths, yet most of us fall down in this area to some degree.  Perhaps because there is more of a time-lag involved, we tend to do better in what we write. How many times have you typed an email or text message and then thought better of it, or at least made changes before clicking “send”?  Yet the spoken word seems to occur at closer to the speed of light – no sooner do we think something than all too often we hear ourselves saying it.  But it doesn’t have to be that way.  We can learn to stop and weigh our words before speaking them if we choose.

We weigh physical things such as recipe ingredients on a scale to make sure they are enough for what is needed, but not too much.  Weighing our words is the same because we can err by saying too much or too little.

On the one hand, we can err in not saying enough – in not verbalizing appreciation in our lives (Psalm 107:8-9, etc.), in not speaking up to help others when we should (Proverbs 31:9, etc.), and in many other ways.  Matthew 18:15 alerts us to one of those situations: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” If we fail to do this, we fail in our relationship.  Weighing our words involves thinking about this kind of thing – asking ourselves if we have said what we should say in a given situation.

On the other hand, saying more than we should is an even more common problem – and often the most serious.  Once again, there are numerous ways this can occur.

Sometimes saying too much is just a matter of too many words.   As the book of Proverbs puts it, “When words are many, transgression is not lacking but whoever restrains his lips is prudent” (Proverbs 10:19).  Depending on the circumstances, not saying too much may even mean not saying anything at all – as Proverbs also tells us: “Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue” (Proverbs 17:28) – a thought that is sometimes humorously worded “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.”    But although not speaking at all may only apply in occasional and extreme situations, the Bible does stress that we should “Avoid godless chatter” (2 Timothy 2:16), and this may be an area in which we should all weigh our words.

Sometimes saying too much is not just about the number of words spoken, of course, but about the harmful nature of even a few words spoken in anger or frustration.  We have all heard the advice to “count to ten” before saying something when we are angry or upset, but counting may just be delaying our reaction.  What we really need is to weigh the words before they are spoken – to assess the probable results before we speak – and that’s what Proverbs 15:28 is specifically talking about. 

We may understand that relationships are often broken or damaged when things are said that are better left unsaid,  but such “unweighed” words do not just include hurtful things such as unjust criticisms or angry retaliations; they can also include gossip, lies and exaggerations that hurt others (Psalm 34:13).  Although we may not think of it this way, the use of irreverent, vulgar, or profane speech can also hurt both ourselves and others.  That is why the apostle Paul urged, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29).

There are even other circumstances where not weighing our words can lead to problems, not through saying something wrong, but perhaps through committing to do things we can’t or don’t do, for example. The book of Ecclesiastes tells us in this regard that: “It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin” (Ecclesiastes 5:5-6).
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In these and many other ways we can fall down spiritually if we do not think about what we say before we say it. That may be difficult for most of us, but it’s why we should strive to weigh our words continually. As the apostle James wrote: “my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak …” (James 1:19 ESV), and we should never forget the warning that Jesus himself gave: “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak” (Matthew 12:36).  If we need one, that’s a very good reason to weigh our words before, rather than after, they are spoken.

The Armor of God – The Origin of the Apostle Paul’s Analogy

The Armor of God – The Origin of the Apostle Paul’s Analogy

by | Mar 6, 2021 | Warriors of the Way

“Put on the full armor of God …  with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:11-17, emphases added).

When we think of the “Armor of God” we all think, of course, of these inspiring verses in  Ephesians, but the analogy was not original to Paul.  We find in the book of Isaiah, in the Old Testament, the origin of Paul’s metaphor in verses that the apostle and his readers doubtless knew well.

The first of these verses appears in Isaiah 59: “He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; and He put on garments of vengeance for clothing and wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle” (Isaiah 59:17).  The second group of verses that would have been well-known to Paul is found in Isaiah 11: “He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist” (Isaiah 11:4-5).

Paul does not simply quote the words found in Isaiah about the armor of God, however. Instead, he develops the idea in two ways. First he focuses on the elements found in Isaiah. Instead of the seven items of armor mentioned in the parallel verses in Isaiah, Paul lists six items of armor in Ephesians 6, and he adjusts and combines some items in order to do this. He combines the belt of righteousness and sash of faithfulness into the belt of truth. He also combines the only offensive weapons mentioned by Isaiah – the “rod of his mouth” and “breath of his lips” – into the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” This is also the only offensive weapon mentioned in Ephesians 6 and is clearly the same thing, the “rod of his mouth” being the “word of God.” 

Paul leaves out the “mantle of zeal” and “garments of vengeance” as these belong to God alone (Romans 12:19), but the “breastplate of righteousness” and “helmet of salvation” are identical in both lists.  The only items of armor Paul adds to those mentioned explicitly in Isaiah are the “shield of faith” and the shoes of the “gospel of peace,” although the idea for the latter can also be found in Isaiah as well:  “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” (Isaiah 52:7) – a verse which Paul quotes in Romans 10:15.

More important than the minor adjustments to the individual items,  Paul’s developed analogy of the armor of God differs from those found in Isaiah by applying the concept of the armor of God himself to the servant of God – the Christian.  He also lifts the weapons of spiritual warfare out of the realm of things that we must somehow put together of our own strength, for the items of armor Paul shows we need so badly are, like salvation itself, the gift of God.  
 
When David tried the armor of King Saul he could not use it as he had not “tested” or practiced with it (1 Samuel 17:38-39).  Paul also reminds his readers that we must not keep these elements of armor on display or locked in some spiritual armory (Ephesians 6:11). The armor of God is something with which we must practice. It is a gift to be used. 
Why Christians Should Vote

Why Christians Should Vote

by | Oct 19, 2020 | The Church & the World

From “10 Reasons Christians Should Vote in the Election” by Dr. Krish Kandiah. 

1. Voting publicly recognizes that we submit to the authority of the political system in our nation as established by God. (Romans 13:1-7)

2. Voting recognizes the equality of all people and their right to speak and be heard. (Deuteronomy 10:17-19)

3. It is one way that we can obey God’s command to seek the good of those around us and our nation as a whole. (Jeremiah 29:5-6)

4. It shows that we care deeply about who our leaders are as we are urged to offer prayer and intercession on their behalf. (1 Timothy 2:1,2)

5. It is a simple yet significant way we can do something about politics in our nation. “All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing,” Edmund Burke. (Psalms 34:14)

6. It makes a difference the way a grain of salt makes a difference, and that is how we are to influence our society for good. (Matthew 5:13)

7. It is a privilege not to be taken for granted. Those of us who reap the benefits of living in a democracy should play a part in upholding democracy.

8. Not voting is a form of voting, as it will influence the outcome. We need to take responsibility for our actions, as well as our lack of actions. (Luke 10:25-37)
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9. Voting has biblical precedence, for example Acts 14:23 describes that the early Christians elected elders by voting.

10. Voting is part of our stewardship to use all the resources we have been given in ways that honor God; to waste a vote is to squander a gift.