James: Faith in ActionSample

Genuine Faith

Imagine you’re standing in front of two fruit trees. You’ve been told one grows red apples and the other grows green apples, but since there’s no fruit yet (and assuming you’re not an expert) it’s impossible to tell which is which. All you can do is wait until the fruit appears to learn which is the red apple tree and which is the green.

Now think about yourself. When you’re hanging out with friends, or at home with your parents, or in the classroom at school, would people around you be able to tell if you’re a Christian or not? If you are, maybe it’s because you’ve told them, but could they tell just by watching how you speak and act?

Faith in Jesus is all we need to be a Christian and become part of God’s family (take a look at Ephesians 2:8-9 or John 3:16). But how can you tell if that faith is real? James tells us that real faith is shown by the way we act. Doing good things doesn’t make us a Christian, but living the way God wants shows the world that we are a Christian.

When the apple tree grows its red or green fruit, it just proves what it already was.

Questions:

1. Take a look at verses 15-17. Why is it important that we put our faith into action?
2. If you have faith in Jesus, but live your life in a way that means nobody else can tell, do you think that’s a problem? Why?
3. Do you think people around you can tell you’re a Christian by how you act? If not, what do you think you could do differently?

Prayer:

Lord, thank you that all I need is faith in Your Son Jesus to be made right with You. But please help me to live my life in a way that shows to others how good and loving You are. Help me to show kindness to everyone and to obey You in how I live. Amen.