The world is bursting with people who proclaim to be Christians, and what is really surprising is that it’s becoming very difficult to see the difference between them and the non-believers. This begs the question: do Christians today know how to walk the walk?

What is the walk? Do we have to prove to the world that we are Christians to be authentic?

The walk is simply to live in faith and trust God with every aspect of our life. Once we accept Christ into our heart, we no longer belong to this world, which means that our focus is on Jesus and not on the world. We study His Word and live for Him, and the important things of this world fall away. The Bible tells us in Romans 12:12 that we should not be conformed to this world, and Luke 9:23 says that we now live for Christ and that we should deny our self and follow Him.

The church pews are filled with Christians who pray with enthusiasm, tithe with honor and sing with exuberance, but …… do they have faith to trust Him with their lives? Will they let go of their worldly security blanket and trust God completely with situations that challenge them? Are they brave enough and trusting enough to walk the walk of faith?

James 2:20 says that “faith without works is dead”. It’s one thing to say that we are believers and that we have faith in God, but it’s quite another to live in faith and act on it every day. And yet, “faith” is all we have – it’s literally the foundation of our hope in Christ, and Hebrews 11:1 says that it’s “the substance of things hoped for”. Without faith, we are nothing and our Christian walk is dead. Faith is the gift that God gave us initially to allow us to come to Him and get saved, and without faith it is impossible to please Him once we are saved.

We need to wean off of the reliance that we have on the world and begin to build our faith in Jesus so that HE will become our source of hope for every part of our life. And as we grow, we will endure small trials along the way where we can test ourselves and realize just how much faith we actually have in God. Some things will seem easy to trust God with, but then comes that big one from left field!

If you were told that you had a terminal illness and that you had only a few months to live, what would you do? Where would you immediately direct your focus? Would you seek out all the medical help you could find and take whatever treatments were necessary to beat it? Or would you stop in your tracks and cry out to Jesus for His help because your faith and your trust was in Him? If you go to the world for help, then that’s where your faith is; and if you go to God for help, then that is where your faith is.

We need to constantly build our faith every day so that we can know Jesus and so that when the big trials come our faith and our trust is securely in Him. We can’t put it off with the mindset that life in this world is what it is. We need to put our faith to work every day of our life so that we grow stronger and closer to God.

Another example would be giving to others. When someone needs financial help we need to put our faith to work and do more than just pray for them and send them out with a hopeful attitude. We need to give whatever substance we have that they need so we can help them, and then we need to trust God that He will meet our needs. When we have faith in God and trust Him to meet our needs, we can give what we have to others with a cheerful heart (2 Corinthians 9:7) and know that God will take care of us. If we don’t have the faith we won’t be able to help others because our faith will in the means of the world – our pay cheque – and we will be reluctant to share it.

When we walk the walk, it’s more than just a show of good faith – it’s acting ON our good faith and on what God has laid on our heart first and with the confidence that God will supply all of our own needs so we don’t have to worry.

“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” … Philippians 4:19

As Christians, we are not set out to prove a single thing to the world. God has never asked us to do that and we need to get that type of thinking out of our mind. Our only obligation as a Christian is to love the Lord with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength, and we can do that by studying the Word, knowing Jesus personally and loving Him enough to want to let Him live through us so we can be a blessing to others.

When we walk the walk of faith, we trust the Lord all the way and we encourage others to do the same. Yes, we’ll have to make changes in our lives and yes, we’ll have to take a public stand from time to time as we uphold the things of God and declare His glory to those around us. And when we can do this without hesitation and as a part of our daily life here on earth, then we’ll know that our faith is not just talk: with our faith we are walking the walk.

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” … Romans 12:2