James 1:21-27
21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 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. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 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. 26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
For most of us, our problem is not a problem of knowledge. We know what to do. For example, we know that pornography is wrong, yet we still view it. This is the danger of knowing truths but not acting on them. As verse 22 says, "be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves". We are deceiving ourselves if we think that it is okay to act wrong as long as we believe the right things. That is like someone who forgets what he looks like (verses 23-24). It doesn't make sense, and is a sign of confusion or hypocrisy. Instead we need to align our actions with our beliefs. Notice how in verse 27 "religion that is pure and undefiled" is not just correct doctrinal beliefs, but results in action: "to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world".
Lord, help my actions to match my beliefs.
21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 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. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 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. 26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
For most of us, our problem is not a problem of knowledge. We know what to do. For example, we know that pornography is wrong, yet we still view it. This is the danger of knowing truths but not acting on them. As verse 22 says, "be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves". We are deceiving ourselves if we think that it is okay to act wrong as long as we believe the right things. That is like someone who forgets what he looks like (verses 23-24). It doesn't make sense, and is a sign of confusion or hypocrisy. Instead we need to align our actions with our beliefs. Notice how in verse 27 "religion that is pure and undefiled" is not just correct doctrinal beliefs, but results in action: "to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world".
Lord, help my actions to match my beliefs.