Listening and Doing- James 1:19-27

 By Brad Ruley

Hold that line! 

James 1:19-27

  My first football game was on Saturday and it was fun.  Here's a picture of me.  I'm number 74 with the blue cleates.  That's how my Mom finds me on the field.  I'm a guard on defense and offense.  My job is to protect the quarterback, which is my best friend, Max.  My job is also to not let the other team get any yards.  This week in James, I'm going to be talking about guarding our words and actions.  Even as a kid, this is hard at times.  Especially in football!  We can't win games with our mouths and anger, we win by teamwork and following our plan and our actions on the field.  So what about the plays and actions in real life? 

Max and I after the game

Anger is dangerous and can get really bad at times.  Anger makes us take our eyes off of God and can consume you.  Even myself as a twelve year old.  When I get angry, I don't think about anything that I are doing.  James is warning us that anger can be dangerous because you can hurt someone or say stuff that is not appropriate when you are angry.  This verse means something to me because I get angry sometimes and yell at my sister.  I know I shouldn't do that and James tell us in 1:19 "be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry."  This may sometimes be hard to do when you are angry but human anger does not help God with His plan for you.  Anger only leads to sin and hurt.  Saving our souls comes from humbly accepting the word of God.  

I asked my Mom what the word "hypocrite" meant the other day.  Weird how it comes up in the meaning of verses 22-27.  I'm taking Greek and the word "hypocrite" comes from the Greek language. (Which is the coolest language ever)  In Greek, the word is "hyp-o-krites," which means "an actor" or "stage player."  James warns us not to forget what we look like when we follow God.  "But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.  For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.  You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.  But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it."  In our life, this means you can't go to church and act like your a Christian but the next day you are mean, talk against God, and doing more sinful actions. This is forgetting what you look like in God's eyes and living for youself.  You can fool yourself but you can't fool God.  He doesn't want you to be a "hypokrites" and be someone else.  We must be pure and genuine in our faith.  To be pure and genuine in our faith, we must care for orphans and widows, control our anger, be slow to speak, and be humble in our hearts.  This can be hard and easy at times.  My advice is to read the word of God and pray.  We can't do this alone.  We need Him.

-Have a great week!