{The Word of God} Part 4: Live the Word
From cover to cover, the Word of God reveals the heart, the character, and the actions of God. We have the great privilege of being able to get to know God through His Word. But I think it goes even further than that. If we want to have a vibrant, life-changing relationship with God, we need to KNOW, LOVE, and LIVE His Word.
This series is intended to equip you to KNOW, LOVE, and LIVE the Word of God. To help you, an everyday woman, put feet to your faith and discover how the Word of God is relevant to your everyday life. And as you are persistent and diligent in knowing, loving, and living the Word, I firmly believe one day you’ll wake up and find yourself in the middle of a REVIVAL.
If you missed the first three parts in this series, you can read them here, here, and here.
The world is in a completely different place than it was when I began this series on the Word of God. Originally the plan was to finish this series in 5 weeks, but here I am almost 2 months later with the 4th post (out of 5).
I don’t know about you, but I tend to see steps or a clear process in a lot of things, especially when it comes to the Word of God and Christian living. I want those steps: “If this, then this…” or “step 1, step 2, step 3…” Do you know what I mean?
Well, I’ve been leading us all on a process throughout this series. It’s a process I can see clearly and hope to articulate clearly. But I need to make sure we all understand that the process I am speaking of is NOT a one time process, not a one and done kind of thing. This is a continual process, and the steps overlap. While step 1 is happening, steps 2 and 3 are also happening. But I do believe step 3 can’t rightfully happen without steps 1 and 2.
Okay, okay...I’m sure all that sounds so vague and confusing even. What are these steps I keep talking about? If you have kept up with me throughout this series, maybe you’ve already caught on.
The steps:
KNOW the Word
LOVE the Word
LIVE the Word
Like I said, these steps are not exclusive of each other. They are happening at the same time and should* continue to happen at the same time.
*I’m hesitant to use the word should here. Can we all agree and understand that I’m not telling you what to do, that I’m not trying to be legalistic about this?
Today we’re talking about Step 3: LIVE the Word.
LIVING the Word means we let what we now KNOW and LOVE about the Word to direct the way we live.
Our relationship with God and His Word does not stop at knowing and loving the Word of God, it manifests in the way we live our lives—in our obedience.
We can’t just stay in the place of KNOWING and LOVING the Word—or better yet, if we are truly learning to KNOW and LOVE the Word, we won’t stay there. We will be compelled to LIVE the Word—to act on it, to actually DO what the Word says to do. We will want to line our lives up with what we say we believe.
This is where it gets real. I believe this is where true disciples are made.
And we see this thought echoed many times throughout the New Testament from Jesus Himself:
John 14:15-31 (ESV)
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me.”
“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word..”
“Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.”
Luke 6:46 (NLT) — “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?”
And of course, the famous passage in James:
James 1:22-25 (NLT) — But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
Friends, it’s clear. There is no questioning that our lives are to be marked not only by knowing and loving the Word of God, but also by LIVING it.
The truth of the matter is: if we are not compelled to LIVE the Word, if we are not eager to do what the Word says, maybe we don’t truly KNOW and LOVE the Word like we thought or like we appear to.
If we aren’t living the Word but we say we know and love the Word, then what are we? We’re hypocrites.
That’s a harsh reality. I believe this is why Jesus was so stern with the religious rulers of His time. There was no doubt that they knew what the Word said, and they professed to love the Word and hold it in the highest regard, BUT did they LIVE out the Word as Jesus revealed it?
I recently read Stop Calling Me Beautiful by Phylicia Masonheimer, and she put it this way: Our outward obedience reflects our inner devotion. (I highly recommend her book, her podcast, and her IG account, by the way!)
What does it look like to LIVE the Word?
LIVING the Word consists of both stopping and starting.
Simply put: as we endeavor to truly LIVE the Word, there will be things we stop doing and other things we start doing. The Word of God is our direction here. We stop doing what is against the Word, and we start doing what is in the Word.
I’m not here to tell you what to do. That is not my place. I’m just directing you to the Word of God, to Him. And, I think, as we continue on in our journey with Him, the answers to what we stop and start will change and progress.
God meets us where we are and encourages us, teaches us, leads us to where we are going. He’s not looking for us to do it all on our own. What would we need Him for if we could do it on our own? He’s looking for a heart turned and softened toward Him, a heart that will allow Him to lead and direct, a heart and life ready to walk in obedience.
He knows we aren’t perfect. He knows we are going to mess up. That’s why He sent Jesus--to do what no one else could do. And that's why He gave us the Holy Spirit to guide us and enable us to follow His lead. He’s never expected us to do it all on our own.
Our life with Him is lived one step at a time, and He is there for each and every one of those steps.
This is where our faith and what we know and love about the Word and about God take action. And, I believe, this is where we experience the fullness and abundance of God, living the life He intends with the grace He supplies.
This result, this reality is REVIVAL—where we are fully alive in, fully turned toward, and fully in love with Him. It’s returning to the way things ought to have been—or at least as close to that as possible on this side of eternity.
That’s just a little tease for the final post in this series. I’m fully convinced these steps—KNOWING, LOVING, and LIVING—will lead us to revival. You can’t convince me otherwise, because I’ve lived it. I’ve experienced it…I AM experiencing it! The Word of God is the catalyst that sparked revival in my life.
Action step:
I’m going to leave you with a simple encouragement, a simple action step. Take a few minutes to get quiet before the Lord, (sometimes the best place for that to happen for me is the shower. #momlife) and ask Him to reveal the things you may need to stop and/or start doing. Ask Him where He is leading you to act in obedience right now, today. He’ll answer. He’ll give you an idea or something will come to mind. I believe that. And then, friend, ask for His help to either stop or start what it is He revealed to you. He’s faithful to reveal, and He’s faithful to help.
If this has been helpful in any way, can I ask you to share it with your friends? Now more than ever, having a grounded foundation of the Word of God in our lives is vital. And I’m a big supporter of being grounded together with other believers. Let’s all dig in and become women who are actively engaged in KNOWING, LOVING, and LIVING God’s Word.