Walking with the Wise #134: Belief & Behavior

“One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor,
but the way of the wicked leads them astray.”
—Proverbs 12:26

Belief and behavior go hand in hand. One cannot have a thorough and accurate belief without it affecting their behavior and vice versa. If a person has correct behavior, without correct belief, they are also misguided. To have one without the other is like saying one needs only one wing of a plane to fly.
Consider for a moment Jesus’ teaching on the subject. When questioned by a lawyer about which of the commandments was the absolute greatest, He said,

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets”—Matthew 22:37-40.

Jesus wanted us to know that our relationship with God is largely shown in our relationship with people. Following Christ does not mean being a spiritual hermit or monk, cut off from people in order to think and pray more all the time. Following Christ is done in the trenches and messiness of life by loving our neighbors when it is not convenient, by helping others of a different race, by stepping out and sacrificially helping others in need.

When Jesus presented the two together as a summation of the law and the prophets, He was restating one side to today’s proverb, “One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.” If we want to be righteous in the sight of God, we are to help and love our neighbor, not harm them—which is exactly what the wicked want to do—harm their neighbor. They are selfish by nature and do not care to help others at any cost to themselves.

As Christ-followers, both our belief and behavior must demonstrate that we are not our own, but that we were purchased by the invaluable blood of Christ. We demonstrate His presence in our lives by putting to death our sinful desires and reminding ourselves that we are dead to sin, because we have been crucified with Him on the cross by faith in His name.

Are we loving our neighbor? Jesus described who our neighbor is (cf. Luke 10:25-37), and our pursuit of God must include the love of them. We are to help them in their time of need as far as we are able, even if it means a great deal of sacrifice on our part. God wants to use us and He never said it would be easy, but because we walk by faith and not by sight, we are more than willing to be used of Him to make His name known through our sacrificial act.

May God our Father, who brought our Lord Jesus back from the dead, enable us to love Him by loving others. May the deeds we do be a fragrant offering in the sight of God, and may others see Jesus Christ in our actions so that they too may come to know and trust in Jesus the Christ, God’s Savior, for salvation and remission of sins. Amen.