Philippians 1:27 "Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;"
The word in the Greek here "conversation" really means "life", not speech. If we say "conversation" to someone today, they think we are talking about our speech, but that negates the context of the passage, relegating it to merely what we say, when the meaning reflects an entire lifestyle witness of Godliness.
We live in a culture that thinks it is enough just to say something and that makes it true. When God spoke of our dedication to Him and our life witness, it is clear that our words are very little, it is our life that says more than our words.
I know many people who have wonderful words, but act in ways that prove their words to be false. One of the character traits of the 2 Timothy 3:1-5 group is to be hypocrites that say a lot of things and mean none of it.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these."
Many people will say; "I'm a good person", while living in sin with someone they are not married to. They will say "I am an honest person", while cheating on their taxes, keeping something they borrowed without returning it. I have met many people in our culture whose words mean very little.
It is only when our life proves our words that they can be relied upon. We can say anything we like, that's the easy part, the authentic value of our words is proven by the demonstration of our life.
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