James 1:19-27--​Hearing and Doing the Word

James 1:19-27 English Standard Version (ESV)
​Hearing and Doing the Word
19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 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.

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This passage is one that had to memorize and come back many times over my life.  I was controlled by my emotions instead of letting the Spirit of God work in my life so that I could controlled by Him and exhibit the self-control that only he can give.  I was hot-headed and quick to speak and my words were brutal and meant to hurt--mostly because I knew that I wasn't physically strong but that my words could be much more painful and create much longer-lasting damage than any punch I could ever throw.  This is not they way of the righteous or those that are bear God's name.  I did not change myself though--I had to let the Word of God change me, which is the prescription this passage gives.  We must not only hear the Word of God, but we must meditate on it, let it speak into our lives, let it convict us of sin, let it speak the truth to the lies of the devil and our flesh, and lead us in the way we should go as we apply God's Word to every situation.  When I was in error the best way to deal with it was to be confronted with what God said about it from His Word.  And it was finally a situation where I had to make a decision about what was going to rule me.  If Jesus was really Lord in my life and I really belonged to Him, then why did I act like someone that was unsaved?  If we fail to incorporate the Word into our lives and put it into action, can we really say that we love God and His Word?  Jesus said that if we belong to Him we will hear His voice and listen to Him and that those that love Him will love His commandments and obey them.

The next part is kind of funny, but becomes all too real for us sometimes.  The Word of God is like a mirror that shows us what our current condition is like, but what good is it to look in the mirror to see how dirty you are and then not wash your face?  Or to see that your hair is messed up (for those of us that still have hair) and not comb or brush it.  It does no good to simply identify the issue if you have no intention of fixing it.  Thankfully the Word can help us in both areas because the solution to our problem is to put God's Word into practice as we confess our sins and repent we must not just turn away from sin but turn towards God and His Word and become obedient to the way He tells us to live our lives.  The law is the boundaries in which we are free to experience God's blessings, and those who hear the Word and obey it will definitely be blessed by their obedience.

We should not become do-gooders that are all about the external and making everyone things we are "holier than thou."  This was the mistake of the Pharisees, and James tells us that our tongues will tell us what our heart is actually like.  We may seem to have everyone else fooled, even ourselves, but God sees our heart and eventually "out of the heart, the mouth overflows."--our true nature will eventually spill out in what we say.  Such religion that is completely external and never addresses the heart and our need to be "born again" is worthless and cannot save a man.  God will not be impressed that we are better than someone standing next to us because when we stand in front of His holiness and perfection we are all woefully inadequate.

​True religion according to James is to love and care for those who may be "unlovable"--at that time the widows and orphans had no one to take care of them because it was the duty of a husband or father to provide for his family.  Such love is not natural--to give to those who can give you nothing in return, but this is exactly the kind of love that God showed towards us, so this is exactly the kind of love that He wants us to show to others, especially our brothers and sisters in the Church.  Not only will we be known by our love and acts of service, but also for our integrity and holiness.  We are to be set apart and different from the world around us.  We are to be unstained by the world so that people can have an accurate view of God who lives in us, has transformed us, empowers us, and lives through us.