City Life Starter

By Megan Meier

The Word

^“9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

Romans 10:9-10 (ESV)

Reflection

It’s not a coincidence the apostle Paul writes how belief and confession are essential to salvation. If a person says Jesus is Lord but doesn’t truly believe it, they aren’t really following Jesus. And if a person believes in their heart but doesn’t have the courage to confess they follow Christ, are they truly a Christ-follower? Belief and confession go together like peanut butter and jelly (or bacon and eggs, pancakes and syrup, tortilla chips and salsa, I could go on, but let’s get back to the devo). 

Belief and confession begin with the heart. King Solomon, the second wisest man to have lived (the first is Jesus) wrote:  

“²³ Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)

Reminds me of another quote (fun fact: Solomon’s words in the Book of Proverbs predated Lao-Tzu’s phrase by at least 300 years):

“Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.”

Lao Tzu

 What we believe in our hearts comes out of our mouths, becomes actions, then habits, and finally our character and destiny. Knowing Jesus is your Lord and Savior becomes declaring out loud He is Lord and Savior, and ultimately to salvation (it jumps right from thoughts and words to destiny).  

In his letter to the Romans, Paul makes many references to the Old Testament (many of them were Messianic Jews), one of them is Deuteronomy 30:14:

¹⁴ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.”

Deuteronomy 30:14 (ESV)

Paul is saying he did not want confession to stop at the heart and the mouth, he wanted this to turn into actions, habits, and character.

Application

Norman Vincent Peale said, “Change your thoughts and you change your world.” He may have also meant change your thoughts and change your eternity. Thoughts. Words. Actions. Habits. Character. Destiny. One leads to another. What’s in your heart? And what comes out of your mouth? And what do you do with it?

Prayer

Dear Jesus, thank You for Your Sacrifice on the cross, forgiving my sins, and granting me salvation. Help me to take care of my heart and what comes out of my mouth and translate it into godly actions. In Your Name I pray, amen.