How to Practice What We Preach
“If mainstream Christianity has steadily lost force and credibility, I wonder how much might be attributed to that we preach one gospel and live another. We preach the Good Samaritan and lock our church doors. We preach the lilies of the field and allocate large amounts of our monthly paychecks to pension and insurance plans.”—Cynthia Bourgeault in Mystical Hope (Cowley, 2001).
This is the old story of practicing what we preach. We talk one way, but act another. My experience is that much of what we do is unconscious. We see ourselves as good and caring people. A particular belief is part of our core values, but our society speaks against it or does not value it. This gives us excuses or wiggle room, so we don’t have to follow through.
My experience is that fear and the scarcity/zero-sum mentality most often keep us from being the person God created us to be. As a result, we cannot act on what we know at our core is true. We fear we will not have enough money. We worry someone will break in and steal what we already have. We fear our health will fail. We experience anxiety over the thought of being left alone, abandoned, or harmed. We fear that speaking out for what we believe will cause us to lose friends or even our job.
Being grateful and expressing thanksgiving for what we have is one of the best ways to journey out of a fear-based life. This offers us a daily reminder of how much God cares for us, loves us, and is always beside us.
When I am most fearful, I rise early in the morning and watch the sunrise as I acknowledge the fear inside of me and make a gratitude list of how I have been cared for and loved. Out of deep darkness comes overwhelming light. God gives us fresh hope, a fresh start, each day. Resurrection comes out of the darkness when we have the courage to look fear in the eye and realize the blessings and gifts we have been given.
Living out of gratitude rather than fear can help us practice what we preach.
Joanna https://www.joannaseibert.com/