In my life, I’ve had more than one experience, as I’m sure you have had, in which a person touted their piety and religious superiority, but I later found out that it was not backed up with behavior that reflected God’s love toward others. One of the most stark examples I can remember is when I was a child, and an interracial couple started attending my church. They were stared at and whispered about until they went from sitting in the main part of the congregation to moving to the back, to moving to the balcony, to not coming at all. What a sad state of affairs. Of course, that kind of thing still happens today, if not with interracial couples, possibly with people who don’t fit whatever other mold of the folks at that particular church.

Certainly, this is not living the love of Christ as John calls us to do in today’s verse.

But let us examine a different experience of mine. As anyone who works for a church knows, when people learn of your employment circumstances, they categorize you. They start treating you differently, and there is an instant filter they put over what they say and do in front of you. It’s a little bit frustrating sometimes, but it’s something that happens, so I expect it. On the flip side, people also often want to share with you their own experiences with their faith. One such time was with a neighbor of mine, who shared this: She said that she grew up Catholic, but not particularly religious. In young adulthood, she stopped going to church altogether. This basically continued throughout her adult life until, in retirement, she was living in a community in which a group of ladies kept collecting items for charity drives — food, clothing, cleaning supplies, whatever. They collected and delivered the recycling for the community, and they always seemed busy with something. She finally asked them, “Why are you doing all of this?” They replied that they were all service projects through their church. She was surprised by this — she thought church was something you attended Sunday morning, not something that had an effect on your daily life. She said, “Which church?” and the answer was the local United Methodist congregation. She has been part of the UMC ever since. She told me, “I figured that if it was inspiring those folks to do so much good, it must be worth my time.”

What a beautiful expression of God’s love in the community. I do think God wants us to proclaim our faith in word, but I think that more than that, God wants us to proclaim our faith through the acts of loving our neighbors, caring for creation, and helping in all the ways we can help. It is through this witness that others will have the love of Christ made known to them, and it is through this witness that others will know that we are not living hypocritical lives of faith, but that we are genuinely doing our best to live the life we are called to by God.

God, help us to never have hollow words, but remind us to fill those words with action, and inspire that action with your love so that all will see a real and true example of Christian faith in us. Amen.

This devotion was written and read by Dwight Dockery.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

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