OPENING PRAYER
Heavenly Father, We come before You
with hearts full of gratitude and praise.
Your wisdom and power are beyond our
understanding, and Your love is endless
and incomprehensible. Every breath we
take is a testament to Your grace and
mercy.
Lord, we thank You for Your Son, Jesus
Christ, who You sent to be our Savior. We
worship You for the sacrifice He made on
the cross, bearing our sins and offering us
the gift of eternal life. Through His
resurrection, we have hope and a promise
of a future with You. We are humbled by
His love and grace, and we offer our lives
in service to You.
Holy Spirit, we invite You into our hearts
and lives. Fill us with Your wisdom and
guide us in all that we do. Help us to walk
in the light of Your truth and to be vessels
of Your love and peace in this world.
Strengthen our faith and help us to be
bold in sharing the good news of Your
salvation.
Father, we worship You not just with our
words, but with our actions and our lives.
May everything we do bring honor and
glory to Your name. We surrender our
fears, worries, and burdens to You,
knowing that You are in control and that
Your plans for us are good.
We love You, Lord, and we thank You for
Your unfailing love and faithfulness. In
Jesus’ name, we pray.
Amen.
FAITH IN ACTION: WALKING THE
TALK
Living for Christ and believing in
Him is a deep and serious
commitment that calls for
embodying His teachings and
qualities. However, many
Christians struggle to
consistently reflect these
qualities in their daily lives and
while a lot of Christians follow
his teachings they fail to display
the qualities that Jesus displayed
while he was on earth. So let us
examine some of these qualities
1. Love and Compassion
Jesus commanded His followers
to love one another as He loved
them (John 13:34). Yet, many
Christians struggle to show
unconditional love and
compassion, especially towards
those who are different or
difficult to love. The parable of
the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-
37) illustrates this point—Luke
10:25-37 KJV
25. And, behold, a certain lawyer
stood up, and tempted him,
saying, Master, what shall I do to
inherit eternal life? 26. He said
unto him, What is written in the
law? How readest thou? 27. And
he answering said, Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and
with all thy strength, and with all
thy mind; and thy neighbour as
thyself. 28. And he said unto
him, Thou hast answered right:
this do, and thou shalt live. 29.
But he, willing to justify himself,
said unto Jesus, And who is my
neighbour? 30. And Jesus
answering said, A certain man
went down from Jerusalem to
Jericho, and fell among thieves,
which stripped him of his
raiment, and wounded him, and
departed, leaving him half dead.
31. And by chance there came
down a certain priest that way:
and when he saw him, he passed
by on the other side. 32. And
likewise a Levite, when he was
at the place, came and looked
on him, and passed by on the
other side. 33. But a certain
Samaritan, as he journeyed,
came where he was: and when
he saw him, he had compassion
on him, 34. And went to him,
and bound up his wounds,
pouring in oil and wine, and set
him on his own beast, and
brought him to an inn, and took
care of him. 35. And on the
morrow when he departed, he
took out two pence, and gave
them to the host, and said unto
him, Take care of him; and
whatsoever thou spendest more,
when I come again, I will repay
thee. 36. Which now of these
three, thinkest thou, was
neighbour unto him that fell
among the thieves? 37. And he
said, He that shewed mercy on
him. Then said Jesus unto him,
Go, and do thou likewise. Jesus
used the example of the
Samaritan who came from a
people that was despised by the
Jews, but still knowing this
demonstrated love and
compassion and mercy to the
man. Even in our own lives there
may be people who we might
consider stingy and don’t help
anybody or a neighbor who for
some reason have something
against you and that person may
fall on hard times and you might
say they don’t help anybody why
I helping them or whole year
they cussing me why I helping
them. Jesus say be your
brother’s keeper. It may be
difficult but as Jesus’s
representative you have to let
his life be reflected in your own
life
2. Forgiveness
In Matthew 18:21-22, Peter
asked Jesus how many times he
should forgive a brother who sins
against him, and Jesus replied, "I
tell you, not seven times, but
seventy-seven times."
Forgiveness is central to
Christian teaching, Jesus Christ
died and gave his life so that we
may be forgiven of not his
transgressions but our
transgressions, yet there are
many Christians who know the
sacrifice Jesus made and who
boast about their sins being
forgiven because of it holding
grudges and find it difficult to
forgive others as Jesus taught.
Forgiveness is not telling
someone I forgive you and some
time after you and that person
have another disagreement and
you bring up everything that
person did to you in the past
although you said you forgave
them. Things not even remotely
related to what the current
disagreement was about.
Imagine going to Jesus and
asking for forgiveness for your
latest transgression and he
started to list out all the other
wrongs you did in the past and
ask for forgiveness for.. It is not
only forgiving those who may
have done something wrong and
is asking to be forgiven but also
we ourselves going to someone
who we may have wronged and
asking that person to be
forgiven. Forgiveness is so
important that Jesus said in
Matthew 5:23-24: “If you enter
your place of worship and, about
to make an offering, you
suddenly remember a grudge a
friend has against you, abandon
your offering and go your way.
First be reconciled to your
brother, and then come and offer
your gift”.
Another person people often fail
to forgive is themselves. You are
the most important person to
you. People may have done
things in the past that they may
not be proud of and go to God
and ask him to forgive them for
what they have done. But that
thing is still a stumbling block in
their life emotionally, spiritually
and even physically and you say
to yourself but I asked god for
forgiveness but that guilt is still
there lingering. Have you
forgiven yourself. The hardest
thing is facing someone you
wronged and asking that person
to forgive you and what you may
need to do is find the biggest
mirror in your house and have a
conversation with yourself. Let
yourself know that what you did
was wrong and you are sorry for
that and the consequences that
may have resulted. Tell yourself
you forgive you
3. Humility and Service
Jesus washed His disciples' feet,
demonstrating humility and the
importance of serving others
(John 13:1-17). Despite this clear
example, many Christians
struggle with pride and fail to
serve others selflessly. A lot of
times people, even Christians do
things and they believe because
of that act the person now owes
them a favour and if they ask
and the person is unable to
assist the start with the reproach
and call the person ungrateful.
Many times Christians do things
not because of selflessness but
they think when I do this God
will bless me not understanding
that is because he blessed you
already that he is sending that
person to you to spread his
blessings.
4. Faith in Action
James 2:14-17 emphasizes that
faith without deeds is dead.
"Suppose a brother or a sister is
without clothes and daily food. If
one of you says to them, 'Go in
peace; keep warm and well fed,'
but does nothing about their
physical needs, what good is it?"
Genuine faith should manifest in
actions that reflect Christ's love
and care. There is the famous
line Christians like to use, “I will
pray for you.” And sometimes I
say to myself I would like to hear
that prayer because here it is
maybe God sent that person to
you because he thinks you can
assist them and you are now
praying for God to make a way
for them.
5. Hypocrisy
While this is not a quality Jesus
displayed he often criticized the
Pharisees for their hypocrisy. In
Matthew 23:27-28, He said,
"Woe to you, teachers of the law
and Pharisees, you hypocrites!
You are like whitewashed tombs,
which look beautiful on the
outside but on the inside are full
of the bones of the dead and
everything unclean. In the same
way, on the outside you appear
to people as righteous but on the
inside you are full of hypocrisy
and wickedness."
This is a reminder that outward
appearances of faith are
meaningless without inner
transformation and genuine
love.
Matthew 7:4-5 KJV
Or how wilt thou say to thy
brother, Let me pull out the
mote out of thine eye; and,
behold, a beam is in thine own
eye? 5. Thou hypocrite, first cast
out the beam out of thine own
eye; and then shalt thou see
clearly to cast out the mote h
out of thy brother’s eye.
Conclusion
1 Peter 2:21 KJV
For even hereunto were ye
called: because Christ also
suffered for us, leaving us an
example, that ye should follow
his steps. Living for Christ is a
continuous journey of growth
and transformation. Christians
are called to not only follow what
Christ commands us to do but
also strive towards embodying
the qualities of Jesus, despite
their struggles and
imperfections. The Bible offers
guidance and examples to help
believers stay on the path of
genuine faith and practice.
Prayer Points:
1. Love, compassion, humility
and service.
Pray that we may love others
like Jesus loved, showing
kindness, forgiveness and
empathy especially to those
who are suffering. And for a
spirit of humility recognizing
our dependance on God and
serving others with a selfless
attitude
2. Healing and restoration
Pray for healing from
emotional, physical or
spiritual wounds and for
restoration of broken
relationships
3. For perseverance in faith.
Pray for the strength and
determination to continue in
our faith even when
facedwith challenges and
doubts, drawing inspiration
from Jesus’s unwavering
commitment to God’s plan
