Lent with the Early Church Fathers Day 16

Day 16

Lent with the Early Church Fathers

A daily post from Tom Bandy 

Based on Day by Day with the Early Church Fathers (Eds. Christopher D. Hudson, J. Alan Sharrer, and Lindsay Vanker: Hendrickson Press, 1999) 

Saving faith 

Ignatius 

Those who profess themselves to be Christ are known not only by what they say, but also by what they practice. “For the tree is known by its fruit.” It is better to be silent and be a Christian than to speak and not be a follower of Christ. “The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” People “believing with the heart and confess with the mouth,” the one “unto righteousness,” and the other “unto salvation.” 

It is good to teach if the one who speaks also acts. For the one who shall both “do and teach, the same should be great in the kingdom.” Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, the son of the living God, first did and then taught, as Luke testifies, “whose praise is in the gospel through all the churches.” There is nothing which is hidden from the Lord, but our secrets are near to him. Let us, therefore, do all things as those who have him dwelling in us, that we may be his temples and he may be in us as God. Let Christ speak in us, even as he did in Paul. But the Holy Spirit teach us to speak the things of Christ in like manner as he did. 

TGB: People who talk too much prove themselves to be the most insecure … as if by talking they can convince themselves as well as others. Those who are silent exude confidence, for their behavior speaks for them.