Talk is Cheap

It is most probable that you have heard the phrase, talk is cheap. Perhaps you have even said it yourself. The phrase suggests that it is easier to talk about doing something than to actually do that thing. It is usually a commentary that someone is not following through on a guarantee or promise. We might say, "Put your money where your month is" or "You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?"

Most people you talk to today claim a relationship with God. Claims vary, but ultimately they are convinced that when their time on earth comes to an end, they will live forever in heaven. This is in fact the promise of God for all who have been born again. "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14:1-3).

The clear evidence of one having an authentic relationship with God, which can only be had through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, as Jesus stated a few verses later, "no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6) is a sincere love for Him.

Many say they love the Lord. Is your claim backed up by your actions? Do you walk the walk, or are you just talking the talk? Jesus declared, "If ye love me, keep my commandments."(John 14:15) and "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me:" (John 14:21)

Obedience to Christ and His Word is the ultimate reality of your love for Christ. Thomas Vincent, in his book The True Christian's Love to the Unseen Christ, has this to say on the matter, "If you can say in the presence of the Lord and your hearts that you do not live and allow yourselves in the practice of any known sin which Christ forbids, nor in the neglect of any known duty which Christ commands, this is sure evidence of true love to Jesus Christ." Since true love for the Lord is the evidence of being born again, not loving the Lord is evidence that one has not been born again. Friend, do not deceive yourself (or allow someone else to deceive you) into believing that you have been born again due to something you have done or didn't do. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Eph. 2:8, 9) Being born again, born from above, is accomplished only through repentance and faith; repenting from one's own perceived goodness, and trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

You might say, "I know I am saved." The question then is, how is your love life?

The problem for most Christians is not that they have altogether stopped loving the Lord, but that their love for Him has been diluted as they have become infatuated with the offerings of the world.

The Scriptures give us a look into the life of the Apostle Peter. Perhaps no saint has fallen more deeply into sin and unfaithfulness than Peter who, on the night of the Lord's arrest, denied even knowing the Lord. Yet no other saint has been so mightily used of the Lord as was Peter after he repented and restored. (See John 21:15-19)

Thank the Lord, failure is not final. The Word of God says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (I John 1:9)

The true test of love for the Lord is not emotion, sentiment, or simply saying it is so. The ultimate proof is obedience to Him. When He is the priority of our lives, we will be willing to obey Him and thus prove our love for Him.

Is your life a testimony of your love for the Lord? Is your love for the Lord seen by others as you go about your day? If your love for the Lord is not what it used to be, or not what it should be, I encourage you to return to your first love. Remember, talk is cheap.

Join us at New Life Baptist to learn more about the Lord and how our love for Him can be all that He intends.

Michael Wilder is pastor of New Life Baptist Church, which meets at 428 Linden Lane in Lake Wales. Service times are 6 p.m. Sunday evenings (beginning March 1st) and on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. Wilder can be reached at 606-465-3097.