The Claim and The Walk

1 John 1:6-7
(6) If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. (7) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Apostle John tells the church that there are claims we make as believers and they should match the walk of our life. We claim to know God. We claim to love God. We claim to believe in God. We claim to study and accept God’s will as revealed in scripture. We claim to follow all Bible teachings as presented in the Bible. We claim to believe that everything comes from God and we should therefore give tithes and offerings. We have many claims as believers.

We claim to love everyone even our enemies. We claim to believe that God can heal and we should pray and trust Him to intervene without seeking unorthodox means to help ourselves. We claim that Christian virtues are good and should be espoused in everyone’s life.

We claim to hate sin and sinful ways. We claim to have left the world because we found Jesus being better than the world. We claim that we have lost appetite for the things of the world. We claim that all we want is Jesus. We claim that we are satisfied with little that God provides than much that the world offers.

We claim that our greatest desire is Jesus and His coming kingdom. We claim that we hate any wealth that is illegally acquired. We claim that given a chance, we would never engage in corruption and other misdeeds. We claim that we treat all people equally and with respect, since they are God’s children, yes even our house helps, our juniors, etc.

A claim is what we believe and now we proclaim to others. When we make a claim, we are announcing to everyone that this is our position. A claim is public. A claim could be a direct statement we made or one which is implied by our allegiance to the church. One way or the other we have made claims.

Apostle John tells us in this epistle that claims are not bad. Apostle John does not stop us or prohibit us from making claims. Apostle John advises that when we make claims, we should walk according to those claims. The claim and the walk must resonate with each other.

The walk that Apostle John refers to, is putting into practice what we believe and claim to believe. The walk is the lifestyle we live by. If your lifestyle is polygamous or vegetarian, then that is how you are walking. Walking is living and living according to a certain script. Apostle John tells us that our walk should be following the script made by our claims.

The claim and the walk must match. If we claim that we love others as God’s word teaches, we should love without discrimination. The walk and the claim must resonate together. If we claim to believe God’s word, we must walk, we must live a life that does not contradict the teachings of God’s word. We should be cautious that the claim and the walk do not contradict or even seem to contradict.

How are your claim and your walk at your workplace? How are your claim and your walk in your relationships? Do you claim abstinence and practice fornication and adultery? Do you claim the love of wife and submission to husband then practice hostility? How are your claim and your walk in your neighborhood? How are your claim and walk when you are offended?

Dear God, help me so that my claim and walk will not contradict or even seem to contradict, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

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