Walk The Talk

     The Lord says: "These people worship me with their mouths, and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  Their worship is based on nothing but human rules.       Isaiah 29:13  NCV

            For the Christian believer, one of the greatest potential pitfalls is hypocrisy.  “I think I’m so good, I’ll show off my self righteousness to everyone”. Self righteous motivation is warned against by Jesus- lest we become “self righteous” as the Scribes & Pharisees had become.  Your life should match what you believe.

Read:  Mark 7:1-13  ( Matthew 15:1-9 ) 

I.  What We Say   (believe)

*  the Bible places great importance upon what we say

“Words can bring death or life! Talk too much, and you will eat everything you say.”   Proverbs 18:21  CEV

            Matthew 12:36,37  choose your words carefully

            Romans 10:9,10  salvation is confirmed with your mouth

            2 Corinthians 4:13  Paul’s confession of heart

*  is your importance on what you say or the obedience of the Word

*  it’s not merely what we say, but what we do

*  the Pharisees placed the emphasis on saying more than doing

*  talking tradition more than walking in obedience to the Law

            1 Peter 2:20-23   walk in Jesus’ steps and example

            Matthew 15:8,9  their lips say one thing- their actions, another

*  do you find yourself saying:  I’m going to pray more, read more, study the Word more, be more involved in church things

II.  What We Do   (behavior)

*  talk is cheap today, words have dropped in value it seems

*  all the more reason for us to walk the talk in our journey of faith

*  we may think people are too busy to observe our walk

*  fact is, people do watch our walk and listen if what we say matches

*  they are impacted by the way we walk and conduct our faith / life

*  Jesus distinguishes between what we have in our heart with having “outward piety”

*  the Pharisees most likely started out with good intentions- sincerity

*  however, they were so steeped in traditions, that they became more important than obeying and honoring God

*  some churches today wont fellowship together because of traditions

*  we need to hear and live the standards of Holiness Jesus taught us

            Matthew 11:28-30  Jesus alone, must be our source