This month, we’ll be doing a new series on Theology in Practice. Our writers will lead you through examining why it’s important to put our theology into practice and practical ways we can do just that!
I’ve been a homeschool mom for a long time. As I began teaching my oldest daughter, I learned that the way to know if she’d really gotten what I demonstrated or explained was to let her try things on her own. Seeing her transform from a hearer to a doer was a mark of her maturing brain development and assured me that she truly “got” what I was teaching.
That’s similar to spiritual growth, isn’t it? We may not even realize it, but as we learn about God from studying the Bible and through our walk with Him, we’re gaining a working knowledge of theology (in short, the study of God). But it’s when we make decisions with what we’ve learned and then transform from a hearer to a doer that we put our theology into practice. We reveal to God that we’re “getting it.”
God blesses our doing because He wants us to walk in love and obedience.
Look what Jesus says:
As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” Luke 11:27-28
And James had much to write about the matter, too:
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. (James 1:22-25)
First, we need sound theology, then we can have a sound practice. The aim of the Christian walk is to become like Jesus. Without knowing God well, this can’t be achieved. I love these words from Lindsey Bell:
“sound theology matters is because it is through sound theology that we become more like Jesus. It is through the study of Him that we become like Him. …Open your Bible and get to know Him. But don’t do it just to know facts. Instead, do it to know Him.”
All this month we’ll be looking at why it’s important to put our theology into practice. In addition to that, we’ll ask ourselves how we can. We’ll examine how a Biblical, doctrinally accurate theology can be applied in relation to God, self, and others. We hope to challenge you with ideas that will spark conversations between you and God through which I’m confident He’ll show you areas He’s calling you to develop and practice (because we are all works in progress).
Please join us this month as we explore together.
Note: I highly recommend reading through our posts in this series from our archives (called Why Sound Theology Matters) to help prepare you for this month’s topic. I know it will bless you!
In Him,
Ali
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