But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. – James 1:22-25
So often we pride ourselves in knowing things and learning things. We like to hear good teachers and preachers. We listen to them on TV and over the radio. We go to conferences and buy bible study books. Often we even spend time memorizing scripture. All of these things are good things and we should continue to do them. After all, we want to feed our souls with life. We want to know our God and Savior even more.
But all this learning, listening, and studying does absolutely no good if we are not applying it to our lives. What good is it to know how to change a tire if you will never actually do it and you call AAA every time you get a flat? Did it save you money or time? Did it help your life or the lives of others in any way? Even more so, if you spend all this time attending church services and you are rude to your neighbors, the cashier at the bank or in the store, or if you are yelling at the guy who just cut you off and giving him the bird, or if you refuse to forgive the one who mistreated you, what good has all that time you spent engaging with your church family and learning about the bible done? It has done nothing and you are a hearer of the word and not a doer. We have deceived ourselves and those around us when we call ourselves a Christian.
I am not saying we have to be perfect and never slip up in these things because that is impossible. We all sin (Rom 3:23). We need Jesus because we all sin. However, there is a difference between slipping and repenting, and walking in sin. When these sins are a regular habit, we are not doers of the word. We will not continue walking in sin if we are true followers of Jesus (1 John 3:9). We need to be taking time to reflect on our lives and being honest if we have allowed the word of God to change us. Has it changed our hearts and actions? We need to be listening for the Lord’s correction because he corrects His children whom he loves. (Heb 12:4-11)
I pray that we as a body of believers would be walking out the word of God in our lives and be true ambassadors for Christ. I pray that His love that we receive would pour out onto all those we encounter no matter how they are acting, speaking, and treating us. I pray that we respond in love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness just as we have received it from our Father because of our Savior.
Written by Rebecca Murzin
