Actions Speak Louder Than Words

May 4, 2022
Midweek Study with Pastor Edith
1 John 3:16-18

Our text for today gives an example of how we know what love is and a reminder of how much God showed his love for us all; “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”

My mommy was a great example of the love of Christ for me and all who knew her. I was pretty young when she was diagnosed with kidney disease, yet she made good use of the days she felt well enough to be out of bed. She would be invited to share about her homeland, The Netherlands, with church groups and schools. I have a sweet picture that a dear friend cut out of a newspaper article that shows my mother in her full Dutch costume dancing in a circle with kids from a local church kindergarten. She became my Brownie Scout leader because I was afraid to leave her to go to meetings and functions. She even made a pattern for all the scouts and leaders to have our own costume, and sent away to Holland Michigan for each of us to have our own wooden shoes. We were the hit of the school for that year’s Mother’s Day program as we dance to a traditional Dutch song about mothers.

The greatest impression she made on me about how to show the love of Christ was her constant concern for others. She often felt weak, but still made time to put a meal together for a shut in, or help at church. One day she got me involved by handing me a bag of clothes that didn’t fit me anymore. She instructed me to go to the end of our street where a very poor and large family lived. I avoided that house, because they were always dirty and smelly, and sometimes were very loud in their family fights. Mom saw my hesitancy and simply gave me a hug and told me to remember how much God loves us and that he wants us to love others.

For those of you that don’t have memories of a mom that knew the love of Christ and shared it, I pray you will seek God to shine more brightly through you, even if you are not a mom. After all, actions speak louder than words.

AMEN