A Doer of the Word, Not Just a Hearer

Is just reading the Word enough? Or is there more to it?

James 1:22-25 says:

"But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he's like someone looking at his face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of a person he was. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer who works - this person will be blessed in what he does." (CSB)

It's not just about reading the Bible to gain head knowledge. If that's all it becomes, we've missed the point of it all. It's not just about hearing what the Bible says. It's supposed to change our lives - the way we live.

I was really struck by the phrase "forgets what kind of person he was" when I read these verses from James recently. For me, it helped make the difference between hearing and doing clear.

When we hear the Word, we do look into a mirror and see the kind of person we are reflected back to us. Any time we open the Word of God we'll see things in our lives that are good and things that aren't that we need to deal with.

If we're just hearers of the Word, this is where it stops. We hear the Word, we see what it reveals in our lives, and then we walk away, quickly forgetting what we've heard. We heard what kind of a person we are, but didn't do anything in response to it.

On the other hand, the doer of the Word, goes beyond what they heard and what they saw about what kind of a person they are. They choose to do something with what they've heard.

When things are revealed, when they see things about the kind of person they are that don't line up with God's ways, they dig deeper to allow God to transform them. They allow the kind of person they are to be changed. As they look intently at God's Word, they find real freedom.

Lift Your Eyes

We all go through trials in life - times we wish we could avoid or escape from. But, we're told in Scripture to persevere in them and through them. We all see examples in Scripture of people who did exactly that.

James 1:12 says:

"Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him."

This is the reason why we endure in trial. We are looking forward to something that is coming. That is where our focus needs to be.

Remembering this lifts our eyes. When things get hard, our eyes often drop. We begin looking down - focusing on ourselves and our circumstances. This focus means everything gets overwhelming and we want o give up more than we want to persevere.

But, when we remember the crown of life promised by God, it lifts our eyes. Our circumstances don't change, but what we're looking at does. When we remember this, our eyes are lifted up and we see Jesus walking with us through our circumstances. This makes it possible to persevere - because we're seeing something beyond the current.

What Encouraging One Another Looks Like

"See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called 'Today', so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." (Hebrews 3:12-13)

The writer of Hebrews is talking about part of what living in real community with one another looks like. We should be continually encouraging one another.

These words also talk about what the encouragement should look like. Yes, it is the positive, uplifting words we think of when we hear the word encouragement. We need that to keep going.

But, it also goes beyond that. The last of these verses talk about the idea of encouraging one another to deal with sin in our lives. This is encouragement to keep our hearts soft toward God.

I think this is the encouragement that's often missing in our lives. We need people who will encourage us to deal with what needs to be dealt with in our lives.

This kind of encouragement is often missing from our lives because it's more difficult to give and to receive. It has to come out of a relationship that has been built over time. And it needs to be carefully given. But, it's very necessary in our lives.

Who are you encouragers?

Do they have the ability to encourage you to deal with what needs to be dealt with in your life? Or, are they only allowed to say the positive, uplifting things?

Who are you an encourager for?

Do they allow you to encourage them to deal with what needs to be dealt with in their lives? Or, are you only allowed to say the positive, uplifting things?