James, a little book of wisdom: faith and actions

Today’s wisdom:

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.  James 2:14-26

My random musings:

You say you believe in God? Well, show it! Show me how that belief has transformed your life. Show me how the desire to live in God’s way works itself out in practice. Because all your words are just words if they’re not backed up by action.

We are not saved by what we do. I get that. Nothing we can do is ever going to be enough to achieve that. Anyway, that’s what grace is all about – the gift of life freely given to us by Jesus. We don’t have to do anything to deserve it. But it doesn’t end there, does it? Recognising and receiving that grace is only the first step. Then comes a whole life of challenges and adventures in seeking God’s will and bringing God’s kingdom to all the dark corners here on earth.

What we do every single day matters. How we treat people every single day matters. The physical matters. The physical and the spiritual cannot be separated. Everything is spiritual: every conversation, every act, every look and gesture. In all that we do, we have the opportunity to spread the love of God. Everything we do is motivated by what is in our heart and if our heart is being transformed by God’s love, then everything we do will be tinged with God’s love.

And so yes, you can see what people believe by the way they act towards others. If you love God, you will love others. It really is that simple.

My question for you:

In what ways can your faith and actions work more closely together today?