Does Your Life Bring God Glory?

DOES YOUR LIFE BRING GOD GLORY?

James 1:22-25, "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."

I want to speak to you about five categories of people that you will find in every church. There are people who fall into every one of these categories who believe that they are profitable servants and that their lives are reflective of their love for Jesus Christ.

Yet I believe that the Bible teaches that only one of these types of people are truly bringing glory to the name of Jesus. The fruit of their lives and their commitment to Christ are so very evident. Only one type will ever accomplish anything great for God. Only one will ever step out in faith and find God waiting when they get out of the boat.

WISHERS

Wishers sigh and cry, but never try. They know there’s more to the Christian life than they are experiencing, but they will not do anything to change. They just wish things would change without any effort on their part. They wish they had a better prayer life, but they will not set up a prayer time. They wish they had a better devotional life but they do not open their Bibles except during Church services. (If they don’t forget them at home or in the car) They wish they could lead a sinner to Christ, but they never share their faith. They wish the church had more ministry outreaches to offer, but they don’t want to commit themselves to any ministry because it might require more than they think they can give.

It has been said that the height of insanity is to continue doing the same things day after day and expect different results.

The fact is that Wishers never accomplish anything for God and they spend their whole lives wondering what could have been, should have been or would have been, and, in the end, they are like that unprofitable servant who hid his talent in the ground and then lost it to the one who had the most talents.

There are a lot of “insane Christians” in spite of the fact that God’s Word says that he has given us the power of a sound mind through the Holy Spirit within us. I don’t mean that their natural mind is insane but spiritually they are a basket case. They live in confusion and wish for things to be different but they never are.

Have you found yourself wishing that things could be better at the church? Have you sat down and wished that Sunday School could be better, that our youth group would be bigger, that our Children’s Church would be larger, or that the worship would be better? Perhaps that’s a sign to you that God is calling you out to do something about those ministries other than just wishing. Maybe God is trying to birth into your heart the foundations of a new and vibrant ministry.

Have you ever wished that your bank accounts had more in them? Have you ever wished that your marriage or your relationship with your friends, children or brothers and sisters in Christ would be better? Just wishing it won’t make it happen. It takes action, hard work, to make those things happen.

Most people will only wish and never act because of fear of failure. What they don’t realize is that inactivity is automatic failure anyway. The one thing that cures fear is action! Put those wishes into action and there is no telling where God will take you.

TALKERS

Talkers are everywhere. You can walk into any church, any time, and you can spot the talkers very quickly. In fact, the Talkers will find you because they just have to have someone to talk to. Talkers are always telling about things that they do but the things they talk about are just things in their own mind, Talkers are always talking about what they’d like to do, or what they have done, or what they’re going to do.

That’s the key - talkers are always going to do something but never seem to get there. They often get people stirred up and excited (especially the pastor) but then they leave you hanging out on a limb. Talkers usually end up running from church to church because after a while people get wise to them and quit listening to their claims to fame. If you’re going to talk the talk, then you need to walk the walk.