Thought/Action – Contemplations

Galatians 5:22-23; 2 Peter 1:5-7; 1 Thessalonians 4:3a; James 1:22; 2:8, 14-26

Introduction

Over the course of this blog, I have delineated five categories that comprise a worldview: mind, meaning-making, valuation (ethics), humility/finitude, and thought/action. For this month’s blog article I want to focus on thought/action – do our actions align with what we claim to believe, do they provide evidence for the worldview that we espouse? I write from a Reformed Christian perspective, so I will speak to the building up of a Christian worldview (See Abraham Kuyper; Francis Schaeffer; James Sire; Os Guinness; Chuck Colson; Nancy Pearcey).

Thought and Action for the Believer in Christ

As Christians, we are called, not only to salvation, but to sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Sanctification entails our lifetime growth in the knowledge of God, the study of His word, and the building up of relationships with other members of the body of Christ, the church. To claim to be a Christian, but to neglect these areas in our lives demonstrates a misalignment with what we claim to believe and how we live out our claim. Although we are not saved by works, the epistle of James informs us that works should evidence our faith (James 1:22; 2:8, 14-26). No doubt none of us are perfect in living out the claims of our faith, but our lives should indicate a change in the way we live as a believer in Christ in contrast to the way we lived prior to our salvation.

The Fruit of the Spirit

Although there is no checklist for the purpose of merit, there is Biblical teaching regarding what our growth in Christ should look like. The apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians speaks of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Interestingly, though nine characteristics are listed in those two verses, Paul uses the singular fruit of the Spirit. This passage is one indication of the change that should comprise our lives upon confessing Jesus, the Christ, as our savior. The apostle Peter delineates a similar list in his first epistle to believers in various churches (1 Peter 1:5-7). Again, these Christian virtues written for the purpose of our sanctification are not checklists that we mark off for the sake of merit or demonstrating our Christian beliefs. God works in our lives through grace in every way. The fruit of the Spirit manifests in our lives via the power of the Holy Spirit upon our inner being. Hence, the Christian worldview, although acknowledging that evidence for our faith is real, embraces God’s grace. Our relationship with God grows through grace and faith. The Christian worldview does not proffer any kind of meritorious action for our salvation or our sanctification. The fruit of the Spirit is God’s planting work within us.

Doers of the Word

As Christians, the alignment of thought (belief) and action should be evidenced by our being doers of the word rather than mere hearers of the word (epistle of James). Our worldview is not held merely intellectually, but we live it out consistently with what we claim to believe. The old adage, actions speak louder than words, indeed carry a truism that should inform us. Any mature believer in Christ knows that we fall short of this thought/action alignment everyday in someway. But such inconsistency should not be characteristic of our day-to-day lives. We should see that our way of living prior to our being called in Christ should diminish over time. Such a way of life should not characterize our lives now that we are in Christ.

Misalignment of Thought/Action

What does it mean (how should we explore the reality) when our actions do not align with our professed beliefs (when such a way of living becomes a marked characteristic of our lives)? Can we actually deceive ourselves as to what we claim to believe and value? I think it’s quite possible that we can. On the other hand, I believe people will be acutely aware that the way they are living does not align with what they claim to believe. They may not want to admit it, to themselves or to others. But the proof lies in what daily characterizes their way of living, what they consistently practice as a way of life. For the believer in Christ, this is one reason why it is important to be a member of a local body of Christ, a church. It is in this setting that other believers can approach us and admonish us. This is an important element for a Christian worldview. We all must take on the uncomfortable task at times of lovingly admonishing others in the body, as well as receiving admonishment ourselves.

Conclusion

We hold a Christian worldview not merely by intellectual assent. Such a belief system becomes demonstrable in the way we live day-to-day. God informs believers in Christ that His will for them is their sanctification. Hence our lives should evidence our growth in the knowledge of God, in the truth of His salvation to which He has called us, in a deeper understanding of God’s word, and in the evidence of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. The Greek word, ginosko, means to know something so as to act on what we know. Biblical knowledge entails an experiential and intimate knowledge of what is claimed to be known. It is the opposite of mere mental assent. We know God relationally and experientially because He has called us to such knowledge. As believers we approach God’s throne as members of the household of God, crying out to Him as Abba Father. Likewise Scripture tells us to make sure of our calling. Do our actions (the way we live day-to-day) align with our thought (what we claim to believe)? This requires diligence on our part to be aware of those times when we fall short of such alignment. Hence, the place of confession in our growth and sanctification.

This blog article spoke to the life that a Christian lives in Christ. One who holds a Christian worldview should see an alignment in what one claims to believe and how one lives the calling of a Christian day-to-day. There are other important truths regarding thought/action for the believer in Christ as one looks not only to the body of Christ, but in all areas of life, exercising dominion as Christians are called to do. That is another blog article.

John V. Jones, Jr, Ph.D./May 14th, 2025

CHRISTIAN THOUGHT/THEMATIC/Thought-Action

Introduction

I would guess that most of us have experienced that sense of fulfillment that comes when our actions in life and on the world truly align with our declared beliefs and values. Such fulfillment is especially true when the actions we had to take were difficult ones, where we knew we had to do what was right.

In this month’s blog, I want to explore the necessity of how our actions should align with what we believe, particularly those beliefs that we hold at our core, ones we believe that define pretty much who we are. Our core beliefs should dictate and frame our actions. Although we’ll never be perfect in such an alignment on this side of life (speaking as a Christian here), to the extent that our actions align with our core beliefs, we will much more likely find fulfillment in the way we live. Such a way of living can be called many things. Honesty, ethical, dependable, and most of all a life filled with integrity come to mind as apt descriptors.

To seek to act – to live out fully as much as possible – in alignment with our beliefs is a difficult undertaking. To the extent that we do so, we can possibly experience, in addition to a sense of fulfillment, lives of empowerment, efficacy, and the sense that we have pursued well-lived and meaningful lives.

Core Values

I have written about counseling and valuation more than once on this blog. Suffice it say, what we call our core beliefs, those that define and describe who we are or who we would like to be, can also be called our core values. Core beliefs make up how we would choose to live and act regardless of what life throws at us. That is a tall order. What can sting us to the core, or sink like a sharp blade deep into our soul, are our realizations that in the midst of tough times that life sends our way, we abandoned what we held to be foundational beliefs about how we understand ourselves, the ways in which we hope to act toward others, and how we desire to live in the world. In a word, we have abandoned our worldview.

Now one could offer the legitimate critique that if time after time we abandoned what we claim to hold as true deep in our soul during life’s challenges that test our claims, then we really don’t value what we claim to value. No doubt, we may find at times that we have inculcated values that we claim to hold without really critiquing for ourselves whether or not we truly value what we claim. That’s another concern all together.

I want to take a different angle at possibly understanding what occurs when we fail in the face of life’s difficulties. Yes, we have claimed to have believed something that we deserted when tough times came at us. Welcome to life and its mix of successes and failures. Rather than totally giving up on what we claim to value when such failures occur, perhaps the truth is that what we value entails difficult ways of standing toward life. I know that is true for my own take on things. Why hold a value that doesn’t help me through difficult times? I don’t want to live by the value that hard times require our always backing out and not facing what life throws at us. That is, in fact, a value. It’s simply one with which I don’t want to align. That means when I say I want to live with courage, honesty, and integrity, I most likely will fail at living those values out many times in my life because they are difficult values by which to live. Would we have it any other way?

So the question becomes what do you hold as your core values and beliefs? What do you believe to be true? On what foundations does your view of truth stand? How do you see yourself living in alignment with what you claim to hold at your core? If your beliefs are difficult to hold during the cold, hard, and dry circumstances of life, you should not automatically assume that you don’t really believe what you claim to believe. Instead, such experiences may mean that what you believe and value are difficult paths to tread. Don’t automatically shun your beliefs because they are hard ones by which to live when life’s demands come at you.

A quote by Viktor Frankl has stuck with me over the years. In his work, Man’s Search for Meaning, he stated: It’s not what we demand of life that counts, but what life demands of us. That’s a difficult belief by which to live. But do you believe that it is true?

Faith and Life

I would be lying through my teeth if I said I believe that the power to live in alignment with what I value rests totally in me. I have written more than once on this blog that I am born-again Christian. No doubt that epithet raises many questions for people who might read this blog along with a ton of caricatures that readily pop into their mind.

The Christian life is a tough one by which to live if one truly chooses to live as God would have one live. But there is also a promise that God has made to those of us who have trusted him through Christ for our salvation. That promise is that he will grant us the power to live the way he wants us to live. The last thing that means, however, is that life will be made of easy pathways through which we can skip and play without any trip ups. For the fallen in life, moral failures are facts of life. They occur everyday for me. If I had to believe that every time I failed, then I really didn’t believe what I claim to believe, then I would have given up on my faith a long time ago.

Scriptures, the witness of the apostles and the saints throughout history, and many believers whom I personally know today tell another story. To live as a Christian is a tough battle. I’ve failed at it many times. I’ve even given up on it at times, always to be called back as God promised. Rather than shucking my beliefs, my failures indicate how much more I need the grace of God to live as I should live. Courage, honesty, and integrity are wonderful core values, along with a host of others. Think of what scripture calls the fruits of the Spirit: peace, love, joy, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. If every time I fell short at living out any one of those, I gave up on them, then those nine words would carry no meaning at all and no target toward which to set one’s sights. The truth is that I can’t live by them by my own power. The promise is that by God’s grace via sanctification, I will grow into them. But I do not have to choose that path. There are more times in my life than I wish were true that I didn’t choose that path. Nonetheless, God’s grace abounds anyway.

Conclusion: Foundations

For the reader who is a Christian, the message is that God’s grace can and will help you live out what you claim to believe and know to be true. In the midst of failures, don’t toss your beliefs to the side of the road because they are difficult ones by which to live. Those difficult times are the ones that God uses to hone who and what we are at our core.

For the one who is not a Christian, then you must choose to live as you will. Still, solid values that people want to live out are difficult. It is easy to believe that because they are difficult, they cannot or should not be held. Everyone has to decide what they hold at their foundation. Then they have to decide if that foundation has any other deeper foundations to it. In this postmodern age where rhetoric rules over the idea of rationality, reason and truth, foundational truths are hard to hold forth. They are mocked, laughed at, and disparaged as backward ways of thinking and living.

Each individual must decide if there are reasons to hold foundational truths. And then he or she must decide if the battles to live in alignment with those truths are worth the struggle.

What people decide will frame, shape, and canalize the way they move through life.

John V. Jones, Jr., Ph.D., LPC-S/March 14th, 2020

THEMATIC: THOUGHT/ACTION