Document: /pub/resources/text/Our.Daily.Bread: db940514.TXT
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OUR DAILY BREAD                        Saturday, May 14,1994
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READ: James 3:13-18

   "SPEAK AND DO"

  The wisdom that is from  above
            is...without  hypocrisy.

           - James 3:17

In ancient Greek dramas, a person behind a curtain spoke the
lines  while  the performer on stage acted out the role.  We
might refer to the speaker behind the scenes as the one  who
didn't "practice what he preached."

This person behind the curtain reminds me of a problem we as
Christians  experience  today.   Many  of  us are skilled at
sounding religious, but we don't put our words into  action.
This is hyprocrisy.

When there is a discrepency between what we say and what  we
do,  we  create  confusion  in  the minds of our "audience."
That's why many nonbelievers do not take the gospel  message
seriously.

A Christian who makes the  greatest  impact  on  a  watching
world,  and  who  furthers the cause of Christ, is one whose
actions harmonize with his speech.  When James spoke of  the
"wisdom  that is from above," he described it as "pure, then
peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy andf good
fruits, without partiality and without hyprocrisy" (3:17).

Our role as Christians is vastly different from the  ancient
Greek actors.  They had speakers who didn't do and doers who
didn't speak.  We are to be people  who  speak  and  do  the
truth!

Author:  Richard W. De Haan

You're writing a "gospel," a chapter each day,
By the  deeds that  you  do,  by the words that you say;
Men read what you write, whether faithless or true -
Say, what is the "gospel" according to you?  -Gilbert

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
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When  actions  and words agree,
   the message is loud and clear.

The Bible in One Year:  Psalms 100-102
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