Evangelizing with actions?

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Renarax

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Hey
When I first heard the words evangelize with your actions I thought it was cool but applying it in reality is tough. What exactly does evangelizing with actions mean? What do you actually do?

The fruits of the spirit are love, joy, kindness, gentleness, patience, self control, peace, faithfulness, goodness
  1. love- how do you show love? does that include loving gestures like helping out with chores and such? Why would anyone think there is gods hand in that? How is Christian love better than normal love?
  2. joy- I think this would be the key thing I’m looking for if only I had an answer. how can anyone see joy? What do you do to show that you’re happy?
  3. kindness- charity? Chores? Homework help? This could all boil down to good upbringing by the parents
  4. gentleness- again . . . Parents raised you well.
  5. self control- Hard! No need to say why. Also, how does anyone see you’re controlling your urges?
  6. patience- Harder than self control. Controlling yourself when you feel like hitting your brother if he doesn’t give you the remote. I think my impatience is one of the most visible qualities my non christian mom sees.
  7. peace - Peace of mind or physical conflicts? I’m good in both the latter and former. I don’t really give a damn about anything not affecting me and am mostly aloof
8)goodness- Parents again. Though my mom often says she wants to be like me (more aloof)
  1. faithfulness- no way I’m going to show that in public( not where I am). Isn’t it said you should pray in private?
So how should I go about converting my hindu family starting with these nine fruits? The doctrine’s not a problem, they’ll believe anything.

But how do I put forward the claim that there is only one god? According to them, all religions are the same and you should take the good out of everything. LOL once I asked my mom if she thought greek religion is the same and she couldn’t answer
 
If you think you are right by only being taught by your parents you are only living according to the world’s standards.

Good people do what they want know matter what it will cost them. When we grow in love for God we are prepared know matter what the world puts us through. God’s will is always better than our own.
 
Yes, it is hard and you will spend your entire life trying to make these gifts take fruit in your life. Take love, your first item:

Remember Jesus’ words:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may [ap]be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore [aq]you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Each one of the items you list will take you out of your comfort zone --that is what the Spirit will do to you – if you open yourself… and then you will be an evangelizer
 
coachdennis said:
Yes, it is hard and you will spend your entire life trying to make these gifts take fruit in your life. Take love, your first item:

Remember Jesus’ words:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may [ap]be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore [aq]you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Each one of the items you list will take you out of your comfort zone --that is what the Spirit will do to you – if you open yourself… and then you will be an evangelizer
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And remember 😦 The above is JESUS’ HARDEST TEACHING) Not easy! Loving your enemies is the hardest thing in the world. I’ve always had a lot of people who don’t like me, and I pray for them–but man, it’s hard. And somedays I “forget” to pray for them. I have to work on that, I mean, really work!😦
 
Renarax said:
Hey
When I first heard the words evangelize with your actions I thought it was cool but applying it in reality is tough. What exactly does evangelizing with actions mean? What do you actually do?

The fruits of the spirit are love, joy, kindness, gentleness, patience, self control, peace, faithfulness, goodness
  1. love- how do you show love? does that include loving gestures like helping out with chores and such? Why would anyone think there is gods hand in that? How is Christian love better than normal love?
  2. joy- I think this would be the key thing I’m looking for if only I had an answer. how can anyone see joy? What do you do to show that you’re happy?
  3. kindness- charity? Chores? Homework help? This could all boil down to good upbringing by the parents
  4. gentleness- again . . . Parents raised you well.
  5. self control- Hard! No need to say why. Also, how does anyone see you’re controlling your urges?
  6. patience- Harder than self control. Controlling yourself when you feel like hitting your brother if he doesn’t give you the remote. I think my impatience is one of the most visible qualities my non christian mom sees.
  7. peace - Peace of mind or physical conflicts? I’m good in both the latter and former. I don’t really give a damn about anything not affecting me and am mostly aloof
8)goodness- Parents again. Though my mom often says she wants to be like me (more aloof)
  1. faithfulness- no way I’m going to show that in public( not where I am). Isn’t it said you should pray in private?
So how should I go about converting my hindu family starting with these nine fruits? The doctrine’s not a problem, they’ll believe anything.

But how do I put forward the claim that there is only one god? According to them, all religions are the same and you should take the good out of everything. LOL once I asked my mom if she thought greek religion is the same and she couldn’t answer
Click to expand...
For what it’s worth, I think evangelizing has to be by actions. Not by reaching and warning and bible bashing.
Actions.
Starting with being a happy catholic (joy).
Then being kind, merciful, and helpful. (love)
Be wiling to note the source of the gifts of joy and love…Jesus.
I know people who came from the middle east (muslim) who wanted to become Christian because they had seen Christians “being kind”.
That’s pretty powerful.
 
It has been attributed to St. Francis that he said something to the effect of "“Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.” In actuality,
"In Chapter XVII of his Rule of 1221, Francis told the friars not to preach unless they had received the proper permission to do so. Then he added, “Let all the brothers, however, preach by their deeds.” americancatholic.org/messenger/oct2001/Wiseman.asp
Click to expand...
I believe you are asking how we can implement the “Nine Visible Attributes” into our daily lives. Going by the fruits you listed, our actions do not have to be heroic, but we must strive to be consistent.

Each Fruit of the Spirit is inter-related. One does not necessarily lead to another. Consider nine parts of a wheel rather than a progressive list. You may focus on one element that affects another, but not in a linear fashion. Imagine as you grow in the Spiritual Life, this circle grows outwards as a flower – a daisy. Each petal isn’t the same size, and it can still become unbalanced. We must work to integrate these nine elements in a balanced fashion every day.
  1. love- read 1 Cor 13:4-13. Can you replace “Love is” or “God is” with “I am?” And can you practice this when you go shopping, by letting someone go ahead of you in line? Can you let your brother have the remote, or the last cookie?
  2. joy- When you make a sacrifice, you do not bring attention to your suffering, discomfort, or hurt as far as you are able. This is a training of thought to be grateful for the ways you can “offer up” your suffering, making it redemptive. When things don’t go your way, you take your frustrations and turn them into prayer by saying, “Jesus, I trust in You.”
  3. kindness- Treat others as how you would like Christ to treat you. Christ the brother, Christ the judge, Christ the savior. Christ full of mercy, Christ the understanding one, Christ who forgives AND reconciles.
  4. gentleness- watch your mouth. Make your words soft and sweet because one day, you may have to eat them.
  5. self control- This comes with time. It takes discernment to know, and absolute trust in, the promptings of the Holy Spirit to know when to speak, when to act.
  6. patience- Patience with yourself and your spiritual growth, and consistency to demonstrate your growth to others. You don’t need a bullhorn to get your point across, you need to do your duties every day with a heart set in doing God’s will in everything – big or small. This is where people will see your true heart, and this is where you need patience with others to accept your perseverance in spiritual growth.
  7. peace - This could be the inner peace that comes from knowing that you’re trying your best, or it could be peacemaking / peacekeeping on a small scale. It’s not just not arguing with your family, it’s having the wisdom to discern when to reconcile (possibly with) others or when to commend them to the Holy Spirit. The “I’m aloof” statement concerns me a lot. We are called to be in the world, yet not of it. “Not giving a damn” when you see someone else suffering is NOT a Christian value. As John Donne wrote in Meditation XVII, “no man is an island.”
8)goodness- This is what people see when you’re consistent. You will reflect God as Love, and become a model of a Christian life. But this, without heroic virtue, is a gradual process.

9)faithfulness - be consistent in at least trying to hold these values. It’ll come easier with practice.
 
You’ve received some great replies, but one thing that pops out to me as I read your post:
you keep referring to how does one "see’ these things?
Well, there is a woman at my parish that has the most radiant smile.
There ought to be a picture of her in the dictionary next to the word “JOY”. So that’s obvious. But really.,. the point is not necessarily to be seen. It doesn’t matter if people “see” that you exhibit self control. The One who created you sees. That’s what matters. That your life is transformed to service of others through:
loving the ones that are hard to love
being joyful even though someone else got he kudos
charity when it hurts…remember the widow and her mite?
gentleness: being gentle with someone who is harsh to you…it surprises them, and changes their worldview. They are harsh because no one has shown them gentleness.
self control: just do it. Don’t speak out in anger. Don’t seek revenge.
patience: picture yourself. People are patient with us all the time. We just fail to notice it in our own lives. :o
Peace: people who have an aspect of peace and serenity rarely court conflict. People who “don’t give a damn” as you say, make themselves a target. Because people will always want to lecture you. 😉
Goodness: when we attempt to do good, surround ourselves with good people, we come close to God, who is ALL GOOD.
Faithfulness: yes, pray in private, but God calls us to community. We don’t live in our own private bubbles. We are called to see all these attributes in each other, offer it to God, and in doing so, make the world a better place. God asks so little of us…worship Him in community one hour one day a week. Not so hard, to offer the One who blesses us and keeps us going.

I would make sure that I understood that these things are not something that you wear like an ID card. The Catholic faith is the one true faith, established by Jesus Himself. There are history books that can show them that. Your task is to inspire them by seeing that your humility, as exemplified is Christ Jesus, is the way to make our lives count, and to offer our lives back to God in thanksgiving.
Faith is about building a relationship with God. We can enhance this relationship through these qualities. I know people whose parents raised them well in a secular sort of way. But they still lack faith, they still condone evils like abortion, sex before marriage with multiple partners, etc. You can be raised “well” in society’s view, but that doesn’t necessarily make them perfect in God’s eyes. They haven’t learned His truths. Parents are the primary educators of their children in faith. Some parents don’t put any effort in to this. 🤷
Learn more about the faith…listen to Catholic Answers, read all you can by great Apologists, and allow these things seep into your being. Go to Mass regularly, and spend time in Adoration. Be assured of our prayers.
Peace.
 
I think there’s a lot to be said for consistency in your life. People know what you claim to believe and they also see your actions. It makes an impression on people if the beliefs and the actions are the same.

People are also very much aware when your actions are different from what you claim to believe, and often pounce on those situations. “Yeah, you claim to be a Christian but you’re always complaining,” or “you claim to be a Christian but you turned me down flat when I asked you for a favor,” or “you claim to be a Christian but you’re always angry.” And they come away saying “Christians are hypocrites.” That’s a sort of dis-evangelizing through your actions.
 
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