James 2

Lately I've been in the book of James and it's showing me some amazing things. In James 1, it talks about persevering, among other things, which has been a huge thing for me this year. When I came across James 2 something clicked for me in some of the verses:


What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? ¹⁵ Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶ 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? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

 ¹⁸ 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. ¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

 ²⁰ You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless^[d]? ²¹ Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²²You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³ And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”^[e] and he was called God’s friend. ²⁴ You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

 ²⁵ 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? ²⁶ As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

These verses hit me hard. We talk about our faith all of the time, but are we putting it into action by doing deeds. The part that I liked the most is the part that is bolded: "I will show you my faith by my deeds." I want to live a life in which people will know that I am His. That won't happen by me constantly talking about my relationship with God and how amazing He is...that's only part of it. That's all talk. It will happen by my actions. I long to exude Christ through every pore of my being. It's a hard task, but one that I have a renewed fervor to do. 

There's an old phrase that I grew up with: "You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?" I am done being all talk. I will walk the walk in any and every situation. Whether I'm back in Africa or here in Massachusetts. My life is His and I will thank Him for His love every second of every day in everything I do. 

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