Is Our Religion Reflected Through Life?
That is, is our religion or belief system reflected in how we live and conduct ourselves on a daily basis?
Is not our religion or our beliefs a sum of our deeds and our words?
Often there tends to be quite a discrepancy between what we profess to believe and how we actually live our lives. In other words, we confess one thing with our lips and reflect another with our actions. This is sometimes because we are consciously growing and evolving into that which we desire, but other times it is because we only talk our walk, we don’t walk our walk.
Our religion and beliefs NEED to be reflected through our life, if it isn’t, people will be able to see that what we profess with our mouth and how we act in our life do not match up. When we fail to walk our walk we fail to project the light into the world.
What do I base this on? Let us take a look at what Ephesians 4 says:
Ephesians 4: 1-32 (KJV)
1.I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
2.With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love;
3.Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4.There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5.One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6.One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
7.But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
8.Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
9.Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
10.He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.
11.And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12.For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13.Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:
14.That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15.But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16.From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
17.This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
18.Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
19.Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20.But ye have not so learned Christ;
21.If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22.That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23.And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24.And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
25.Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
26.Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
27.Neither give place to the devil.
28.Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
29.Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
30.And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31.Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32.And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
So I think we can safety say that Ephesians 4 offers guidance and suggestions for living our life according to our faith; and here I am referring to the Christian faith; in regards to acting and speaking according to our faith Ephesians CLEARLY speaks to us about walking our walk not just talking it.
Verse 22 alone speaks about putting off the old man, the old us and then goes on to say about speaking as the new man, the man that has been cleansed and sanctified by God.
We are quick to say I am a Christian or I am a Buddhist for example, but these are often illusions of that which we aspire to be; in which case, our aspirations are too low, for Christ was not a Christian no more than Buddha was a Buddhist. Christ aspired to be the reflection of God, the ultimate, so if Christ was teaching us that we are made in His image, the image of God, then God should be our yard stick, our measure, our inspiration. Our desire should be to be as God.
Although our reflection to others may sometimes look like the real thing, like that which we think we are like, in actual fact, often our reflection is a poor counterfeit. The reflection is often nothing but an outer garment, it is no more the walk than a song is the emotion behind it.
If the life of Christ, or even the life of Buddha was about their own daily walk towards enlightenment, then should we not also busy ourselves with our own daily walk towards enlightenment? towards Being Christ-like or God like.
Ephesians 4:17 ………………..walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
We often read so many books on how to be Christ like, but knowing can never be the same as being, to know the walk is not to walk the walk. To know the walk is to live it in your mind and perhaps confess it with your tongue, but to walk the walk is to walk it in your daily life.
If our deeds do not reflect that which we believe in, then we fall short of the calling, for being as the Divine is the ultimate acquisition of enlightenment.
This is not said to criticise or condemn but said in love to bring awareness and act as a reminder that we must not become so hoity that we forget to look at our own lives with truth and love and see exactly where we fall short. When we recognise that we fall short, we are offered a gift, through truth and love one can transform all shortness of character into something strong.
We naturally project that which we are out into the world, the good and the bad. If we realised that our heart is our temple, that it is the kingdom of God within, and understood that we can live from within our temple, then our daily lives would change for the better; but it takes commitment, for neither fine clothes nor riches can beautify our soul, for the beauty of the soul is found in its depth not in its attire.
Enter each day into your holy temple, enter with thanks-giving in your heart for your soul can only become that which you feed it.
Always Walk in Peace – Kenzo
