Walking the Walk

“For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power.” 1 Corinthians 4:20

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I just want to live my life according to the old hamburger jingle that went, “Have it your way.” It doesn’t help that I live in a “me-centered” culture that seems to promote narcissism. Sometimes we humans can be like water. Water always finds the lowest place. It’s easy to choose the path of least resistance. No effort required. It’s easy to talk the Kingdom talk, but am I walking the Kingdom walk?

To walk the Kingdom walk we may have to learn to swim upstream, to go against the cultural tide, to take the higher ground. The Bible tells us that the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it’s living by the power of God. To live by the power of God we’re going to have to get over ourselves. We need to recognize when our attitudes stink. We need to value the needs of others above our own desire for self-gratification.

But living by God’s power doesn’t just mean trying harder. It means pressing into God’s help to overcome the temptation to let life be all about us. I don’t know what that process looks like for you. For me, it means turning my focus away from the situation and placing it on God. Sometimes a little worship music can put things back into perspective for me. Or diving into the scriptures to remind me of what is true. Sometimes it means taking a moment to pray for those who are getting on my last nerve instead of reacting to them. Other times I just need to pull away from the situation to talk with God and ask him to help me push the reset button.

Living by God’s power requires effort. It requires taking the focus off ourselves and trusting in the power of God to help us walk the walk and not just talk the talk.