Do You Practice What You Preach?

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. - 1 Timothy 4:12

One thing I absolutely love about my fiancé, Kevin, is the way he worships. He is so wide open with the way he worships the Lord, never afraid to raise His hands, dance around with the students at his youth group, or sing at the top of his lungs. You can just tell by watching him that worshipping God is something he loves to do, and it’s a major way that he connects with the Lord.

A few months back, Kevin preached a series to his youth group on worship. For three weeks, he walked his students through what the Bible had to say about worship and what we could learn from how people in the Bible worshipped Jesus.

Kevin also taught the students how God invites us to worship Him in a posture of complete surrender, and how we can show that posture by doing things like raising our hands or getting on our knees.

At the end of one of the messages, he invited the students to, if they felt comfortable, worship in a way that showed that posture of surrender. Several of the students raised their hands as the worship leader came back on stage and led one final song. And then I watched as Kevin walked to his normal spot, out of sight from most of the people in the room, and got on his knees and worshipped God. He didn’t make any of the students do what he did. He didn’t force them all to get on their knees. He just invited them to worship in a posture of surrender, and then he chose to practice what he preached.

That’s another thing I love about Kevin. He’s adamant about following through on whatever he’s preaching on or speaking about. He’s not one of those people who says one thing in front of a crowd and then acts a different way when no one is looking. He’s consistent, always trying to live out what he’s encouraging other people to do. So when Kevin got on his knees and worshipped at the end of that sermon a few months ago, that wasn’t a “one-and-done” kind of thing. I’ve seen him continue to worship in that surrendered posture multiple times since.

Just this week, on Sunday morning during the last worship song before the pastor got up to preach, I had to use the restroom. When I walked back into the sanctuary, I scanned our row for Kevin and didn’t see him. At first I assumed he had also slipped out for some reason, but as I got closer, I saw that he was on his knees, once again, singing and worshipping in a posture of submission.

I couldn’t help but smile as I watched him. But as I stood there a little longer, I realized I wasn’t the only one watching him. Several of the students from the youth group sit with me and Kevin in service on Sunday morning, and I noticed that one student, a middle school boy, was watching Kevin worship just like I was. Yes, he was singing too, but he was very aware of what his youth pastor was doing.

Fast forward to last night when we were at youth group. The same middle school boy that sat with us on Sunday morning stood up as the worship set was starting. He stood in his normal spot, surrounded by his normal group of friends. But at one point during the third song, I look up from my spot in the back and see this student, this 8th grade boy, on his knees, hands raised, worshipping Jesus.

Immediately tears came to my eyes. Obviously I can’t read this student’s mind. I don’t know where his head was at, what kind of work the Holy Spirit was doing on him last night, or what prompted him to worship that way. But I felt pretty confident that this student felt the freedom to worship in that kind of posture because he’d seen it modeled. He’d seen it in action. It wasn’t just something he was told to do from a stage. He saw Kevin, someone he loves, respects, and knows truly cares about him, worship the Lord with total surrender, and therefore he felt comfortable to follow that example.

I can’t stop thinking about that moment from last night, because it was such a convicting reminder of how the example we set for believers is so much more important, and often more impactful, than the words we say. I’m not saying what you say isn’t important. Heck, I’m a writer for a living, so words obviously hold their weight in my mind. But if we’re not willing to live out what we say, then our words aren’t going to mean much at the end of the day.

If Kevin had gotten up in front of his youth group a few months back, preached a sermon on worshipping from a posture of surrender, but never modeled what that looked like though his actions, I’d venture to say the message wouldn’t have stuck nearly as well. But because he didn’t just talk the talk, and he chose to walk the walk, he was able to set an example for the students God has entrusted to him, and give them the freedom and encouragement they need to worship with reckless abandonment.

So as you’re living out your day-to-day, are you practicing what you preach? Are your actions backing up your words? Does the way you live your life match up with what you say to people and what you post in your social media captions? These are questions we really need to think about. And as we do, it’s my prayer that the Lord continues to do a work in our hearts, that we might set a godly example for everyone around us, so that they know we are the kind of Jesus-followers who walk the walk, not just talk the talk.