Practice What You Preach (6/1/2025)

Teachings of Jesus in Matthew 7

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).

As Jesus nears the end of His Sermon on the Mount in which He describes the people who will be part of His kingdom, He teaches this lesson on sincerity and service, pointing out that lip service is not acceptable.

Jesus is saying profession alone is not enough when it comes to having a relationship with Him and the Father: there must be the additional component of following the plain and precise directives God gives in His Will.

In street terms, we have come to know this concept as Practice What You Preach.

It is foolish to waste our time pretending to be a Christian if we are not putting into practice the commandments given in the New Testament—such a life will not help us in eternity.

It is equally foolish to attempt to move others to become a New Testament Christian if they examine our lives and find discrepancies between what we teach them they should do and what we ourselves are doing.