Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.     1 John 3:7-10 ESV

The word practice has three different meanings. It can be defined as the actual application or use of an idea, belief or method, as opposed to theories relating to it. When we say that attorneys practice law or doctors practice medicine this definition applies.

Practice can also be defined as the customary, habitual or expected way of doing something. We might use practice in this way if we referred to the current practice of nursing.

Practice can also be defined as the repeated exercise in or performance of an activity or skill so as to acquire and maintain proficiency in it. This is what we mean when we say practice makes perfect.

The English standard version of our Scripture talks about practicing righteousness or practicing sinning. Other versions say that the one who does what is right is righteous and the one who commits sin is of the Devil. The question I pose to you today is which category do you fall into? Are you practicing righteousness? Or are you practicing sin? There is no middle ground. It’s one or the other.

The interesting thing about this is that if you ask whether or not someone is a Christian, many will say they are. Some will even say they attend church on a regular basis. But, when you look at it, they practice sin more than they practice righteousness. This is a very dangerous situation because the Bible clearly tells us that those who practice sin are of the Devil. Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-22, “On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name? Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!

It’s not enough to say you’re a Christian or to go to church or to read your Bible. We have to practice our Christianity. We do so by living out what we learn in the Bible. We do so by loving others, even when we don’t feel they deserve it. We do so by trusting in God and praising and worshiping Him even when things aren’t going as we had hoped.

As we are in the end days, I believe it is critical that we understand what we practice. We must take a good look at how we treat others. We must look at how we talk to others and how we handle ourselves even in difficult situations. What do you practice each and every day? As far as our Christianity all three definitions apply. We should apply our beliefs and our methods that we learn from the Bible to our everyday living. We should behave in the customary, habitual or expected way of a Christian. Our Christianity should be evident. We should also practice Christianity in an effort to perfect it or maintain proficiency in it. This is where we train ourselves to respond in a Christian manner no matter what is going on with us or around us.

Take a minute to think about what you are practicing. Do you need to change it? If you pray to God, He will help you to do just that.

Have a great day!