JamesSample

It’s important to note that James is thought to be the first book chronologically written of the New Testament, so the audience of this letter was primarily Jewish Christians, or in other words, people who had just recently confessed their belief of the resurrection, James included. So we are seeing a community of people who are “fresh off the boat” into this new religion (which they are discovering is actually more of a relationship) and are zealous to teach (or point fingers at) those who might not be living according to this new way of life.

I think this verse sums up the general idea around why non believers have such an issue with the church. Most likely more than any other complaint about Christians is that they are hypocritical, and don't practice what they preach. No one wants to follow fluff. Especially today, when humanity is searching for authenticity. So James is encouraging us here to focus more on learning for ourselves vs learning for others. Because if we start to walk that road of knowing what is right, but living what is wrong, we will be judged heavily. And not just by God, but by people. So rather than fill ourselves with head knowledge, let’s spend our time working on heart knowledge, because the Bible tells us that from the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

Let's ask ourselves today, are we wanting to learn about Jesus for information, or revelation?

Prayer points:

• Pray that we would remember that the measure we use to judge is the same measure used to judge us.
• Pray that we would extend grace to others as we are on this journey together.