Right Living and Right Speaking
To be a witness for God is to be a living sign of God’s presence in the world. What we live is more important than what we say, because the right way of living always leads to the right way of speaking.
When we forgive our neighbors from our hearts, our hearts will speak forgiving words. When we are grateful, we will speak grateful words, and when we are hopeful and joyful, we will speak hopeful and joyful words.
When our words come too soon and we are not yet living what we are saying, we easily give double messages. Giving double messages—one with our words and another with our actions—makes us hypocrites. May our lives give us the right words, and may our words lead us to the right lives.
—Henri J. M. Nouwen
Bread for the Journey
Nouwen’s thoughts direct us to consider the source of our witness, our words and our actions. Are we living, speaking, and acting according to the strength, ingenuity, and abilities of the flesh, or of the Spirit? And to whether there is consistency between the three, our testimony, words, and actions. Where there is incongruity, all three are compromised. Our pursuit ought to be for God’s mind and heart on all matters; seeking the Spirit’s leading in all things; walking in the Spirit. For our sake, and for the blessing we might bestow on others, may we find our life’s source in God and live it. —DH
—David Hoskins, Founder & Care Guide, Sanctuary Clinics