19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
I have to admit that after simply reading the above passage...although I'm sure it's all interrelated...I didn't exactly come away with the notion that it was explicitly about deepening one's faith...although this can clearly be a wonderful by-product of the exhortations contained in the words, if followed...
I've tried in the past two articles about James to more or less summarize what my pastor was saying...I'm not sure that it wouldn't be a better idea for you to listen to him for yourself on YouTube: The Family Church shows each week's sermon, which you can access through its website (here is a link to it [link])...Pastor Philip's hilarious illustration in reference to the "mirror" mentioned in Verse 23 is something you won't want to miss. Instead, I'd like to bring up three of the biggest reactions I got out of the sermon and the scripture...
Verse 19 was full of wise advice: be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. Wow. Not only does this produce the righteousness of God, as the following verse reveals, but it is extremely important practical advice when dealing with others. I think that if I just took this one verse and focused on it for a month, then my life might be transformed for the better. Hey, I think I'll just take myself up on that...
In Verse 22, the author exhorts the reader to view his or her newly-found knowledge not as an ends in itself, but also to act upon it. Learning should thus lead to application, something that I haven't exactly been on board with in the past...
In Verse 22, the author exhorts the reader to view his or her newly-found knowledge not as an ends in itself, but also to act upon it. Learning should thus lead to application, something that I haven't exactly been on board with in the past...
The other section of the passage I got a lot out of was Verse 27, defining pure religion not in terms of what we normally refer to as "organized religion", but rather as one's personal expression of their faith that is reflected in benevolent deeds to the needy and forgotten, while maintaining high standards of behavior in the face of constant temptations from the world. A very interesting definition indeed...
Yes, the book of James is loaded with some pretty cool stuff...
