James 1:19-2:17.
James 1:19-2:17
Hearing and Obeying
"My dear friends, you should be quick to listen and slow to speak or
to get angry. If you are angry, you cannot do any of the good things
that God wants done. You must stop doing anything immoral or evil.
Instead be humble and accept the message that is planted in you to
save you. Obey God's message! Don't fool yourselves by just listening
to it. If you hear the message and don't obey it, you are like people
who stare at themselves in a mirror and forget what they look like as
soon as they leave. But you must never stop looking at the perfect
law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if
you listen and obey, and don't just hear and forget. If you think you
are being religious, but can't control your tongue, you are fooling
yourself, and everything you do is useless. Religion that pleases God
the Father must be pure and spotless. You must help needy orphans and
widows and not let this world make you evil.
Warning against Having Favorites
My friends, if you have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, you
won't treat some people better than others. Suppose a rich person
wearing fancy clothes and a gold ring comes to one of your meetings.
And suppose a poor person dressed in worn-out clothes also comes. You
must not give the best seat to the one in fancy clothes and tell the
one who is poor to stand at the side or sit on the floor. That is the
same as saying that some people are better than others, and you would
be acting like a crooked judge. My dear friends, pay attention. God
has given a lot of faith to the poor people in this world. He has also
promised them a share in his kingdom that he will give to everyone who
loves him. You mistreat the poor. But isn't it the rich who boss you
around and drag you off to court? Aren't they the ones who make fun
of your Lord? You will do all right, if you obey the most important
law in the Scriptures. It is the law that commands us to love others
as much as we love ourselves. But if you treat some people better
than others, you have done wrong, and the Scriptures teach that you
have sinned.
If you obey every law except one, you are still guilty of breaking
them all. The same God who told us to be faithful in marriage also
told us not to murder. So even if you are faithful in marriage, but
murder someone, you still have broken God's Law. Speak and act like
people who will be judged by the law that sets us free. Do this,
because on the day of judgment there will be no pity for those who
have not had pity on others. But even in judgment, God is merciful!
Faith and Works
My friends, what good is it to say you have faith, when you don't do
anything to show that you really do have faith? Can that kind of faith
save you? If you know someone who doesn't have any clothes or food,
you shouldn't just say, "I hope all goes well for you. I hope you will
be warm and have plenty to eat." What good is it to say this, unless
you do something to help? Faith that doesn't lead us to do good deeds
is all alone and dead!"
God bless you.
Hearing and Obeying
"My dear friends, you should be quick to listen and slow to speak or
to get angry. If you are angry, you cannot do any of the good things
that God wants done. You must stop doing anything immoral or evil.
Instead be humble and accept the message that is planted in you to
save you. Obey God's message! Don't fool yourselves by just listening
to it. If you hear the message and don't obey it, you are like people
who stare at themselves in a mirror and forget what they look like as
soon as they leave. But you must never stop looking at the perfect
law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if
you listen and obey, and don't just hear and forget. If you think you
are being religious, but can't control your tongue, you are fooling
yourself, and everything you do is useless. Religion that pleases God
the Father must be pure and spotless. You must help needy orphans and
widows and not let this world make you evil.
Warning against Having Favorites
My friends, if you have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, you
won't treat some people better than others. Suppose a rich person
wearing fancy clothes and a gold ring comes to one of your meetings.
And suppose a poor person dressed in worn-out clothes also comes. You
must not give the best seat to the one in fancy clothes and tell the
one who is poor to stand at the side or sit on the floor. That is the
same as saying that some people are better than others, and you would
be acting like a crooked judge. My dear friends, pay attention. God
has given a lot of faith to the poor people in this world. He has also
promised them a share in his kingdom that he will give to everyone who
loves him. You mistreat the poor. But isn't it the rich who boss you
around and drag you off to court? Aren't they the ones who make fun
of your Lord? You will do all right, if you obey the most important
law in the Scriptures. It is the law that commands us to love others
as much as we love ourselves. But if you treat some people better
than others, you have done wrong, and the Scriptures teach that you
have sinned.
If you obey every law except one, you are still guilty of breaking
them all. The same God who told us to be faithful in marriage also
told us not to murder. So even if you are faithful in marriage, but
murder someone, you still have broken God's Law. Speak and act like
people who will be judged by the law that sets us free. Do this,
because on the day of judgment there will be no pity for those who
have not had pity on others. But even in judgment, God is merciful!
Faith and Works
My friends, what good is it to say you have faith, when you don't do
anything to show that you really do have faith? Can that kind of faith
save you? If you know someone who doesn't have any clothes or food,
you shouldn't just say, "I hope all goes well for you. I hope you will
be warm and have plenty to eat." What good is it to say this, unless
you do something to help? Faith that doesn't lead us to do good deeds
is all alone and dead!"
God bless you.
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