James: More Graceनमूना

How do you think your spiritual life is going?

It seems that our own assessment may not always be correct. Once again, we may be deceiving ourselves. The ‘false teacher’ who lives in our heads and feeds us lies keeps very busy!

We may have a tendency to give ourselves a good ‘write-up’ as we reflect on our spiritual lives. We may remember our regular visits to church and feel rather pleased with ourselves.

• But what really shows if our claim to be ‘religious’ is worth anything (vv. 26–27)?

James mentions three aspects of believers’ lives here. He wants his readers to inspect how they are doing in these areas. This will give them a much more accurate assessment of their spiritual health than just checking how many religious meetings they attend.

James will return to each issue later in his letter. This list is like an agenda of his concerns.

The first issue James points to is self- control, and in particular whether we can control our tongues. Words are tremendously powerful. God’s words brought physical life to the universe and spiritual life to us. Our words have power too. They can bring truth and love and peace. They can build good relationships. Or they can be false and hateful and destructive. James will have a lot more to say about taming the tongue (3:1–12), but his big point is clear: don’t think your spiritual life is going well if your words are out of control.

The second issue James highlights is how we treat those who are most vulnerable and needy. Orphans and widows in James’ society often had no one to provide for them. This again is a very practical test of the reality of our faith, for caring for the needy is demanding; it is likely to demand our money, our time and our effort.

The third issue is holiness. The sinful attitudes of those around us can rub off on us. James wants his readers ‘to keep’ themselves ‘from being polluted by the world’ (v. 27). This too is an issue of self-control; it won’t ‘just happen’.

• How does James describe God (v. 27)?

If we believe in Jesus, we are already in God’s family, for God is our Father. But his grace should not make us complacent. God wants us to grow like him. He cares a great deal if there is a credibility gap between our claim to be his children and our actual behaviour. 

Pray

Ask God to help you see where there are gaps between your beliefs and your behaviour.