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Commit your works to the Lord,
And your thoughts will be established.

Proverbs 16:3 NKJV

I have started this post three different ways over the past two days and I still don't know if this will be the final copy. :D

Our actions, more than our words, more than our mannerisms & colloquialisms, more than anything else, our actions betray our thoughts. Now, if we have truly committed our works to the Lord, our thoughts will be established in Him. They will be brought captive to the obedience of Christ. If this happens, and let me assure you I haven't perfected this, we will probably look a whole lot different than we do now.

In this study on Proverbs 31, we see a woman who lives radically different than most of us are used to seeing. The World teaches us at every opportunity that we are to live for ourselves first. It's why we have sex ed in schools, it's why abortion is legal, it's why euthanasia is becoming more accepted. But if we were to turn away from this and live, as we see in Proverbs 31, putting others first, we will probably look a whole lot different than we do now.

When our works are committed to the Lord, He establishes our thoughts. He will give us the strength to fight against our nature of sin and selfishness. He never says we are supposed to do it on our own. The World is the one that taught us that. He says to come to Him all who labor and are heavy laden and He will give us rest. He promises us a Helper, the Holy Spirit. If we believe that, if we commit our works to the Lord and rest in Him and His promises, we will probably look a whole lot different than we do now.

Our non-Christian friends have seen it all. They've seen the false teachers and false prophets that the news media never tires of parading before them as examples of Christianity. They've known hypocrites and religious zealots who judged and condemned before they even bothered to know and understand, before they bothered to love and commit. But if we were to allow our thoughts to be established in the Lord, we would probably look a whole lot different.

The only question is, are we tired of looking just like the world, are we tired of our own hypocrisy? I know I am tired of mine. I'm tired of being another person's judge, jury, and executioner. I'm tired of putting myself first and everyone else last. I'm tired of it, because it dishonors God, but mostly because it repels people from the Gospel. It repels people I don't really know, and it repels those closest to me. I try to teach my kids that there are only two types of people in the world, people who need Christ, and people who need to be encouraged by Christ. If I live this out, I will probably look a whole lot different than I do now.