Is it possible to believe something without it producing some action or behavior?

The goal is to do the things which Jesus said to do. It does not make sense to call Jesus “Lord,” and not do what he said – Luke 6:46-49.  My goal is to walk with Christ in a relational way training through grace and mercy.  His word becomes the guide and instruction manual for this journey,  training to be formed into the image of Christ by the Holy Spirit.

Knowing the ‘right answers’ does not mean we believe them. To believe them means to act as though they’re true. Dallas Willard

If I truly believed that God loved me and was with me, how would it change the way I loved my wife or daughter and son-in-law?  When my heart and mind is focused on the truth that God loves me unconditionally and He is with me, I am more patient, kind, loving and I desire to serve them.  My behavior is not a force of effort but a natural response to the understanding that I am loved and secure.

Is it possible to believe something without it producing some action or behavior?

faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. – James 2:17

Knowing the ‘right answers’ does not mean we believe them. To believe them means to act as though they’re true. –  Dallas Willard

You will never know how much you believe something until it is a matter of life and death – C S Lewis

Most of what we think we see as the struggle OF faith is really the struggle to act as IF we had faith when in fact we don’t. – Dallas Willard

“Grace means there is nothing I can do to make God love me more, and nothing I can do to make God love me less.” – Philip Yancey

You have to learn to keep yourself company before you can truly keep someone else company.  

We all talk to ourselves.  We start it about age two, talking out loud.  We have all seen the little toddler walking around jabbering.  Around age four to six we start talking in our heads.  We begin to understand it isn’t socially acceptable to talk out loud so we begin to do it in our heads.

“We are a Divine work of art, something that God is making and therefore something with which He will not be satisfied until it has a certain character.” C.S. Lewis – The Problem of Pain

In the pain and joy of my life…especially the pain of my life.  I find that the question “What’s God doing with my life?” always floats into my head.  I have a Father in heaven that is involved and concerned with me.  What is He doing?  Has he forgot about me?  I don’t think we have concrete answer to these questions.  Job and Isaiah can attest to that.  But God is doing something.  I am convinced that He is constantly working in our lives. He is orchestrating and directing the world so two things will always happen:

…most people at work, even in high performing organisations, divert considerable energy every day to a second job that no one has hired them to do: preserving their reputations, putting their best selves forward, and hiding their inadequacies from others and themselves. We believe this is the single biggest cause of wasted resources in nearly every company today. What would happen if people felt no need to do this second job?” – Robert Kegan, Making Business Personal, Harvard Business Review. April, 2014

Interesting quote.  This part of the quote stands out to me “hiding their inadequacies from others and themselves”.  If the goal is hiding, you never learn how to manage or improve the “Inadequacies”.  You put energy into managing your struggles.  There is less energy or focus to manage goals, priorities, people or programs.

Each of us has 100% available to us everyday. That is a metaphor for the time, energy, focus, or skills that you have available to use each day. This seems obvious but examine how do you spend that 100% – your time, energy focus or skills.  How much is spent managing anxiety, depression, worry, fear, stress or addiction, the list could go on and on.

I learned a long time ago that the more I tried to deny or hide my problems the more they grew.  My goal is to live in the sweet spot of my strengths, but that is not accomplished by hiding my weaknesses.  I have learned that I need community, a desire to learn and grow and an intimate relationship with God.  I struggle with keeping this in balance, but I want to live in the light not hiding in the dark.

Have you seen the truth of the quote above in your life or in the people or organizations you manage?