Actions Speak Louder

If you go to the very bottom of my Photo Gallery library, you will see a few black and white photos of a very short time when my dad’s house was clean.  One of them is a picture of a script my dad was practicing for kid’s service, and in big print in the middle of the page was the following phrase:

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS

I don’t know if my dad would have gone on to explain to several elementary children the meaning of that phrase, but I know that it meant a lot to me (hence me setting it up for a photo).  You can say all that you want, but unless you do something about the things that trouble you, nothing will ever be accomplished.  Conviction means more than speaking against the things that you don’t agree with, but becoming an opposing force to that thing.

A fight broke out right next to me at my school on Friday, and the majority of the day was spent with people complaining about how horrible the conditions of this school are and how stupid people can be.  I have a great amount of respect for my Spanish teacher, who mentioned that while there are a lot of problems, it is pathetic and outrageous that the senior class is doing nothing but complaining about other people.

I’ve recently been thinking about recent events and I’m realizing that I spend a lot of time doing this.  I want to think that I’m doing well in everything, but as a Christian, it would be wrong to say that there are people in my life who are just coincidentally there.  I realized long ago and have long forgotten that God has a purpose for every single person in my life, and as much as I want to say that my only obligation is myself, it’s also important for me to help others and make a difference as best I can.

Another quote that I may have mentioned before but has really stuck with me is that “in order to change the world, you must first be willing to change yourself.”  I would rather go to my grave saying that I tried to do that than to tell my children not to make the same mistake that I did in this.  As Jesus said, “It’s not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick.”

It will be hard, and I need to realize that I will fail.  That’s one of the hardest things for me to come to terms with: that no matter how hard I try, I will stumble several times.  I’d rather have 1 succeeding effort out of 1,000 than to have 0 succeeding efforts out of 0.

Today begins those efforts.  I have mentioned before about problems with my dad’s side of the family, and today, him and I are going to probably go somewhere and talk about things, and I hope to talk about one specific thing: action.  No matter what, it’s always best to remain in action in something, especially when the opposing force is one that never rests.