Walk the Talk

 DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

WALK THE TALK

2 Cor 10:7-11

7 You are looking only on the surface of things. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as he. 8 For even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down, I will not be ashamed of it. 9 I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. 10 For some say, "His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing." 11 Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.

NIV

There are always going to be those who look good, smell good, and have a silver tongue. This is what Paul is referring to here when he tells them they are only looking at the surface things. False preachers were in plenty during the time of Paul, and it has not changed over the course of history. Today we have our fair share of those who wear their thousand-dollar suits, flashy watches, and rings, with big smiles and fancy words that tickle the ears. However, one has to look beyond that surface appearance and dig deep into their theology and in doing so anyone would see the falsehoods and the fact these types are only interested in building themselves up and in the process tear others down. The fact is that our words and our life must match. That is what Paul is saying about himself. There are those who claim that he sounds good in this letter, but in real life, he is not so much to listen to. It may be true that some people are able to communicate better in the written form them in the oral format, but Paul is not one of them. We have too much evidence of his oral aptitude in his discussions, such as on Mars Hill, when he takes about the statue to the unknown God. Isn’t that our challenge as well? Should not our life match our words, both those we write and those we speak? Should not the words we write and those we speak match as well? True, not all of us are orators, or for that matter, great writers, but we all talk, and as of late, many seem to find some media outlet to express a view on some issue. That is not to say all do, but that only some do. We think is it important, from these words of Paul, that we make sure we speak the truth of the gospel in all situations. We are representatives of Christ and have been given the authority as His ambassadors to speak for our sovereign. So let us be consistent, whether we are with people or in our writings, such as these words here. The truth is the truth no matter how it is expressed, and our lives should reflect the same as our words. That is, we need to walk the talk instead of just talking the walk.