James 1:19-27
Qualities Needed in Trials
19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
Doers—Not Hearers Only
21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of 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 observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
God’s righteousness is seen in action when we hear all He tells us in His word and listen to others before speaking back or allowing our anger to race past our ears and end up soiling our tongues. What are we to do instead? We begin by putting off the things that are not of God’s character, those things that are driven by ill-will, a desire to injure others, and depravity of thought put into action. We then are instructed to put on meekness through application of the scriptures that saved our souls into our hearts and minds that the results may drive our feet and lips. To be a doer (ποιητής poiētēs) of the word and not just a deceived hearer means we seek to initiate and create goodness in our speech and actions by reflection in the mirror of the Bible and of ourselves to align the two images into a cohesive and coherent whole as the image of God by removing the tarnish of sin’s stains from our souls. If we do not consider and continually assess our sanctification, we end up fooling ourselves of faux righteousness like a mask we wear while leaving the underlying face unchanged. That is not our calling! We never want to forget who we were and who we are becoming in Christ. No, we should be looking intently into this law of liberty and not outward keeping of rules for their own sake, listening with understanding and the life-transforming work of God’s grace in us day by day (2 Corinthians 3:18). Blessings only follow through obedience to the word of God applied liberally across our lives that we might like what we see reflected in the mirror of the scriptures. This religion we profess works to keep the tongue in check with full spiritual disclosure to God and self in a clear view according to the word of God. We should see fruit in willful application such as caring for others in need and keeping ourselves (2 Timothy 2:19) in moral and inner righteousness reflecting that of Christ in whose we stand. In all our trials and temptations we are to stay the course of conformity to Jesus Christ and others who have gone before us in imitating (1 Corinthians 11:1) Him. This is putting God’s righteousness into daily action by putting off the unrighteous and putting on that which honors Him.
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