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Do You Really Believe It?

May 30, 2017

There was a famous English criminal at large in the 1800s named Charlie Peace. After being maimed in an industrial accident as a child, Peace pursued a life of crime, becoming a burglar and a ruthless murderer. After years of evading law enforcement, he was finally arrested and sentenced to death by hanging.

On the morning of Peace’s execution, he ate a hearty breakfast of bacon and seemed surprisingly calm in his final hours of life. As he was being led to the scaffold for his execution, the prison chaplain walked beside him and performed his duty of reading from The Consolations of Religion. As the chaplain unemotionally read from the book, Peace interrupted him and declared, “Sir, if I believed what you…say that you believe, even if England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would walk over it, if need be, on hands and knees and think it worthwhile living, just to save one soul…!”

Do you really believe what you say you believe?

If you really believe God gave you unique talents and abilities, why aren’t you using them?

If you really believe family is important, why don’t you spend time with yours?

If you believe in honest, good work, why are you cheating your employers and colleagues by only working half-heartedly in the office?

If you truly believe that friendships are worth the effort, why have you so quickly given up on your friends?

If you really believe your faith holds truth for all people, why aren’t you sharing it?

Your deepest convictions and beliefs should lead you to action. If what you believe does not shape your life, maybe you should ask yourself if you really believe what you say you believe.

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