Acts For God People Develop Some Unique Ways To Express Faith In Everyday Life

Expressing your faith every day can be as simple as giving someone a smile and a hug or something more involved such as volunteering for a community organization.

“I believe we are called to act as well as to believe,” says the Rev. Flora Bowers, superintendent of the Pacific Northwest United Methodist Conference.

Our actions are more of a faith statement than what comes out of our mouths, she says. We express our true beliefs in our daily behavior, even in how we drive a car.

“It’s those things that reflect what we believe and how we live,” she says.

People shouldn’t do good for others because they think God may be keeping score, but because they truly want to do it, says Bowers.

David Graham of Liberty Lake regularly volunteers at the Union Gospel Mission. The 55-year-old retiree, who walks with a cane due to post-polio syndrome, says he has seen men at the mission overcome their drug and alcohol addictions with God’s help.

“I believe that every day can be a positive experience if you let the Lord lead you,” says Graham.

Spokane insurance salesman Mervyn Witherup says there shouldn’t be a separation between a person’s religious beliefs and their business life. People should behave the same no matter what day of the week it is.

“I try to live my faith 24 hours a day,” he says.

Witherup has no qualms about referring a customer to another company that can offer cheaper rates. “I care more about the customer than I do the commission,” he says.

“I try to conduct business with integrity,” says Witherup, acknowledging that it can be particularly difficult when working in commission sales. “I like to think that I take the proper approach.”

Gomer Davis, Kootenai County’s chief bailiff, says that while his faith is important to him, he doesn’t try to push it on to others. “As I live it out, I don’t hammer people over the head with it.”

Instead, Davis lives his faith unobtrusively by being a conscientious worker and by being honest, friendly and helpful to his co-workers and people he comes in contact with. Consistency in your actions is important, he says, and if a belief is truly held it will show in what you do.

Gregg Jones wanted to live her faith daily so much that she incorporated it into her business. She founded Gregg Jones and Associates Real Estate eight years ago with the goal of working in a positive environment.

“I wanted a business I would also be happy to come to,” says Jones.

While many of her employees are Christian, says Jones, religion isn’t a prominent part of the business. “We don’t have prayer meetings instead of sales meetings.”

Instead, she teaches her employees not to step on anyone’s toes or intrude on another agent’s territory. Her agents are trained to ask customers if they are working with another agent. Honesty and care for clients are on top of the agenda.

Jones lives by the attitude that there is plenty of money and clients to go around and passes that on to her employees.

“I won’t die the richest broker, but that was never my goal,” she says.

Jones also works on various social issues in the community, particularly domestic violence. She gets her inspiration from a WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) key chain she carries and a plaque on her office wall that reads: “I never said it would be easy, only that it would be worth it.”

“I’ve been called a bleeding heart,” says Jones. “I just think that what you give out you get back a hundred fold.

“It’s nothing really earth shattering. It’s just a way of life.”