CONSISTENCY


There’s one thing in life that you can’t fake—consistency. You’re either consistent or you’re not. You can pretend to be loving. You can pretend to be generous. You can even pretend to be holy. But you can’t fake consistency. You’ve either got it or you don’t.

The way you develop consistency is that you follow the examples of those who have gone before you and follow the example of your spiritual leaders. “Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:7-8)

If your excuse for consistency is that you had no one to be an example for you the writer of Hebrews is saying that the Lord, Jesus Christ, is the perfect example of consistency. If Jesus loved you yesterday, he loves you still today. If Jesus had a plan for your life yesterday, he has a plan for your life today. If Jesus’ promises were real yesterday, his promises are real today. The Lord is always the same—consistent. “I am the Lord and I do not change.” (Malachi 3:6)

You need to daily strive for consistency in your walk with the Lord. This means you need to daily make the basics of spending time in the Word, prayer, and serving others an everyday priority. These are the basics to consistency.

These days it seems that, Christ-followers can get a little side-tracked from time to time chasing after the latest spiritual guru, and that is a problem. The basics take a back seat to always wanting to hear something new. Believers run from this seminar to that conference, always looking for something a little different than what they have already heard. Do you know where this leads? It leads to heresy. “So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.” (Hebrews 13:9)

Food in the first century church was tied to being spiritual. The Jews wanted to keep the Old Testament dietary laws. The Greeks advocated for a rigid vegetarian diet to achieve holiness. The Word of the apostles shut down both viewpoints. You don’t achieve holiness through the food you eat. Holiness is achieved by loving God and loving others. “Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.” (Hebrews 13:15)

The Word says to strive for consistency in personal sacrifice unto God and service to others. You can do this because [God will] equip you with all you need for doing his will. [And] may he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. (Hebrew 13:21) When it comes to living a holy consistent life you can’t accomplish it on your own or through the latest trend. Only in the power of Jesus Christ can you be equipped to consistently do and produce good things.

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