James 1:22-25

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.

I have read these verses numerous times in my life but I am still struck and rebuked each and every time. It always hits home. We tend to always forget God’s Word or perhaps we have memorized some of them but the application part is really hard.

Practical Christianity mandated by the word of truth, which is the gospel, is characterized by both truly hearing and then resolutely doing the truth. This means obedience—the hallmark of the true child of God. Hearing the word without action is self-deceptive while hearing the results in doing the word is blessing. Being doers of the word is the only response to the entirety of the Scripture allowing it to take root in one’s life.

When we look intently at our natural face in the mirror and see dirt, common sense says something should be done about it. Of course, when we see that we have eye mucus (muta), smudged make-up, dirt on the face, or something between our teeth, we will remove/clean it and not just leave it there, right?

As we meditate on the truth, we can find imperfections, weaknesses, or things in our own selves that are not aligned with God. As we get to know God more, we will get to know more about ourselves—how holy He is and how filthy and corrupt we are. With that, our response might be to look down or be too hard on ourselves. But, may we keep in mind that the Holy Spirit rebukes and teaches us, and God’s grace is sufficient to help and change us. Certainly, we cannot do all of these on our own! As we carefully and intently read, study, meditate, and apply God’s Word in our lives, surely our minds will be renewed, our hearts will be transformed, and our actions will follow. It is not only for our own sake, but it also points people to Jesus. A preacher once said in one of his sermons that nothing or no one can discount the power of the changed life. The most powerful way to lead people to Christ is through the believer’s own life. Being like Christ gives glory to God and points people to Him. Also, John Piper wrote in one of his articles, “When we bring God’s words home to our hearts, and then apply them to our lives through an amazed and changed heart, it is a great means of his grace to us. He loves to bless the true application of his word to our lives,” and “Press the Scriptures to your soul. Pray for the awakening of your affections. Bring the Bible home to your heart.”

May we act upon what we have heard and learned.

Grace and Peace!