The Doing of Learning

Philippians 4:8-13

Verse 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Now that we have seen what we should set our thoughts on, we follow Paul into putting into practice what we have learned.

Paul needed his readers to understand that just thinking on these things wasn’t enough. Nor was just listening and learning from their friend, Paul. We can listen to the best biblical teaching and even understand what we have heard but unless we are willing to put it into action it won’t do us any good. It is so tempting to be lazy in our Christian life. We want the name but not the responsibility of living for the glory of Him whose name we bear.

Many of us have heard these instructions for living most of our lives and yet our lives don’t show that we have known truth since our earliest years. Why is that? Why do we settle for just passing through life instead of flourishing as Christ desires? Much of this is because we are so comfortable with doing things the way that the world does. We don’t want to be different than those that we encounter day in and day out and so we are satisfied by just hearing the Word.

Putting into practice what we have learned takes intentionality. We have to make the choice to step out and do what we have learned pleases God. When we listen to the Sunday sermons we may allow our ears to absorb the Word being proclaimed but we don’t come with softened hearts to take in what is being taught. Maybe we have a high view of ourselves or maybe we don’t think the topic being preached has any connection with our lives, but both of these speak of pride in our lives.

When we prepare our hearts prior to hearing the Word proclaimed, we will find He always has something to say to each of us. We will learn what He wants us to do and when we take action on what He says we will find that we will be wrapped in the peace that is God’s. Living as He calls us to live will bring us to a new and deeper relationship with Christ. This “doing” doesn’t give us salvation, Christ has already done that, but because He has done that we need to show our love and thankfulness, doing what He desires us to do.

Making It Personal

How eagerly do you listen to sermons? Do you listen so you know how to take action in your life? What effect has obeying Christ had in your life?

Making It Personal Kids

Why is it important to do something that you have learned that Jesus wants you to do? How do you feel after doing what Jesus wanted you to do? How do you learn about what Jesus wants you to do?

Closing Prayer

Father, we are sorry to ignore Your messages so often. Please help us understand the importance of not just knowing Your will, but doing it. In Jesus’ name, amen.