We were at a restaurant when I saw a mother pulling her baby out of a high chair. The baby had some food on the back of her leg, but the mother hadn’t noticed.

Not wanting a bigger mess to occur, I told the mother about the food and asked her if it was OK with her if I wiped it off her child’s leg. She agreed.

When I was through, I sat back down at our table.

Chloe asked me, “Did you get baptized when you were young?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“Wow, it really worked on you,” she said.

I was amused at her comment.

“Why do you say that?” I asked.

“Because you do nice things for people,” she said.

I was pleased Chloe saw this characteristic in me, but I explained to her that I do nice things for people because Jesus is in my heart, not because I got baptized.

As a Baptist minister, I believe baptism is a symbolic act; it is an outward sign of the inner change that has already occurred when I accepted Christ. The things I do are not because of some magical transformation that took place by entering the baptismal waters, it is because of the transformation Christ has made in my life.

James discussed this idea of faith and works in James 2:14-26. James explains we do good works not in order to be saved, but because we are saved. He goes on to say faith without works is dead (verse 17), faith without works is useless (verse 20), and again, faith without works is dead (verse 26).

I don’t know about you, but it seems to me James was trying to make a point.

I believe that point is this: when we become Christians, we are compelled to show our faith not only by our words, but by our actions. Doing so lets others know we are Christians, and can even serve as an open door to tell them about Christ.

Such actions can include helping someone make necessary improvements around their home, driving someone to the store so they can buy groceries, or wiping food off the back of a baby’s leg for that child’s mother.

What can you do to show others evidence of your faith?

The Rev. Parrish Myers is a local minister living in Braselton. His column appears biweekly in Sunday Life and on gainesvilletimes.com/life.