You can have all the information for a recipe and put it into practice, but it’s not your own. I’ve watched my wife cook a new dish by following a recipe only to turn around and cook it again, but this time make it her own. She puts her own dash of creativity and measure of experience into it. The result is that it is better than the original!
There can be two men with the same information, with the same role model and mentor, yet with two completely different lives. Why? Because knowing what is right, seeing what is right, and even doing what is right is not enough.
KNOWING THE RIGHT INFORMATION
Knowing the difference between what is right and wrong, what is sin and what is righteousness, is no mystery for the Christian. First, there is the Word of God, given to us for our instruction, as it reveals the heart and character of God. Second, there is the Spirit of God indwelling our hearts. His role is to teach us what the will of God is and to lead us in that way.
For those men and women who serve Jesus Christ, knowing what is right is an easy task. But it is not enough.
DOING THE RIGHT THING
Here is where most make the mistake of assuming that change happens. Doing what is right based on the right information is commendable, even necessary, but it’s less of an anchor in times of testing than you might think.
Many base their actions upon the actions of a mentor who is living out what he believes. The false assumption is that by imitation, my life can be changed too. But Martin Luther once said, “It is not imitation that makes sons; it is sonship that makes imitators.” In other words, acting like a person doesn’t make you that person. We call that pretending. “Doing” can’t create “being”. Being creates doing. You can go a long time continually doing the right thing, but it is not enough and sooner than later the cracks will be exposed in the crumbling foundation of your character and who you are. You need more than a role model.
HAVING THE RIGHT HEART
If our hearts are not right before God, no amount of right Biblical information or right Biblical action will be able to keep us afloat. What we need is a new heart, a clean heart, a repentant heart that is after God and is being conformed to Jesus Christ.
The Psalmist says, “May my heart be blameless in your statutes, that I may not be put to shame.” (Psalm 119:80) What you know won’t keep you from being ashamed. What you do might not keep you from being ashamed. Why? Because without the right heart that information has no root. The sun and heat of temptation will scorch and kill what you know. And those actions are like shifting sands. The tide of indwelling sin will wash them all away.
We must stop putting our trust in the right information and in the right actions and instead begin to seek first and foremost a right heart (Psalm 51:10). Make it your own and you will be a person of character.
QUESTION: How often has the right information and the right action led you right back to where you were? When did things begin to change for you?
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