Tag Archives: Doers of the word and not hearers only

¹⁶ Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. ¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. ¹⁸ Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

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.

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.

James 1:16-25

Dear God, I was watching a video this morning, and I heard a man say something interesting. He said something to the effect that anger is always masking some other emotion. Maybe it’s sadness or fear, but anger isn’t the emotion itself. That’s a thought that’s going to fester. I thought of that when I read verse 20 of this passage: “…for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” Assuming that wrath = anger, it feels like I should stop and think about this statement in this way as I consider this whole passage.

So let me go back and start at the beginning of this passage:

• Verse 17a: Every good and perfect gift is from you. In the previous paragraph, James is saying that you are not a source of temptation for us. No, instead you bring good and perfect gifts to us.
• Verse 17b: I’m not sure I’ve ever noticed this before. You are always the same. You are unchanging. As James describes it, you are the source of light so your don’t shift like shadows. What a beautiful analogy. I like that.
• Verse 18: The whole “born again” idea is amazing. Taking us back to your original creation when you looked at us and said, “It is good.” Taking us back to Genesis 1 and 2, and not starting with Genesis 3. Thank you for this amazing opportunity.
• Verse 19: This is a fairly popular verse for people to quote: “Be quick to listen and slow to speak.” We usually leave out the rest because it’s not convenient. And here’s where I want to look at the other emotions that might be driving my anger. James tags onto the listen/speak part of the sentence, “…and slow to become anger…” When I am quick to wrath, what is the emotion behind it. As I sit and think of times I have held a long grudge, it’s usually betrayal. I am hurt because I cannot trust, and I usually lead with trust. And it doesn’t say I can’t get angry, but that I shouldn’t be quick to anger. So I’m not saying I shouldn’t be angry about the betrayals, but I need to be careful and prayerful about how I respond. No, maybe I need to sit and think about the times when my anger flares up quickly. I don’t think I can think of a pattern right now, but please help me be mindful of any time my temper flares quickly and to start to piece together a patters. Reveal this to me, Holy Spirit.
• Verse 20: Anger doesn’t bring about a righteous life. Oh, how I see this displayed online. There is a woman who recently became a donor at our clinic, and while I don’t spend hardly any time on social media, whenever I’ve been there for a particular reason and happened upon a post of hers, it’s usually filled with anger. I wonder if she can see it. I wonder if there is some way that being involved with our nonprofit might bless her and help her to let go of her anger. If there is something I can do to bless her and others in this area, please show me how.
• Verse 21: “…receive with meekness the implanted word…” I’m preaching later about the parable of the sower and how we need to make our hearts a place where your seeds can be planted and your fruit can grow. How do I give you good soil? Part of it is what James says here: “…lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness…” Then the seeds of your word can have space to grow.
• Verse 22: Take the word you plant and be a doer of it. I heard some discussion yesterday about spiritual formation training and how it can have a tendency to steer into isolation for the believer and keep them from getting out and putting their love to use. And let the doing of what you have give us to learn be part of us really internalizing it and growing. Going back to the plant analogy, it reminds me of the peach trees for our region. The peaches need a certain amount of stress to be the best. They need X number of “chilling hours” while they are dormant in the winter to be good when they bloom in the spring. In the same way, I need to be challenged at some level in order to best internalize what you are teaching me. If I just sit in my home and think great thoughts, but I never put anything to work, what I have I accomplished. It’s like writing a parenting book after having never been a parent. I have some great thoughts, but until I’ve had my thoughts personally challenged, how can my counsel be of use to anyone else or even myself?
• Verses 23-25: These kind of reiterate the point I just made about verse 22. If it’s just an intellectual exercise, then I will likely never change. But if the intellectual part gets challenged and refined through application then it will get woven into the fabric of my being.

Father, for the next three and a half hours, I need to be right in the middle of your presence. I need you as close to me as is possible. I am going to be preaching and I need it to be you. I need your Holy Spirit to simply flow through me as I get up to share your word with these people. Prepare their hearts this morning. Prepare my heart too. Make some good soil for us to receive your seed, and then help us to be doers of the word you plant in us. Holy Spirit, I need you.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen