We had such an incredible Discipleship Class lesson this past Sunday. James 1: what a packed out chapter of Scripture! The last two verses have been rolling around in my mind all week.
"If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain."
If a person thinks of himself as acceptable to God, yet does not bridle or control his tongue...he deceives himself and his religion is vain or empty...unacceptable to God.
Some ways that we can be loose with our tongues are:
....interrupting and dominating conversations.
....being easily provoked and lashing out at others.
....gossiping and telling tales.
....criticizing and murmuring.
....judging and condemning others.
....using slang and cursing.
....engaging in suggestive and off-colored talk.
....talking about and running down others.
This is by no means an exhaustive list but certainly enough to get me to listen to my own chatter. What kind of talk comes out of my mouth. So often we immediately think of so-and-so who should read this...but God is bringing this home to each one of us personally. If this kind of talk is a part of our lives, then our religion is in vain/empty/unacceptable to God.
Whoa! pretty serious! Gotta admit that it bothers me a bit that we excuse each other to have uncontrolled and angry tongues because "things are going on in their lives, they have issues with their past, are having a bad day..." etc. Don't get me wrong I believe strongly that we should see each other with eyes of compassion but I think we've erred on excusing uncontrolled and angry tongues. James 1:20 says that "The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God."
"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."
Pure religion is to visit the fatherless and widows and keep ourselves unspotted from the world.
I'm sure along with the fatherless and widows, the orphaned, shut-in's, newcomers, lost, unsaved, motherless, bedridden, lonely, and grieving would also be included.
In other words, the needy. And God expects us to visit them. He doesn't assign this to just one person, or just the pastors, or just the deacons...but to each one of us. If we each reach one, how simply we could accomplish the goal.
How do I keep myself unspotted from the world when I live in the world? Pure religion does not get corrupted with false beliefs and false religion. It holds to the purity of the gospel, to the Word of God. True believers of true religion keep themselves unspotted from the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.
"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." Mt. 5:8
It starts with me. I am to have my tongue under the control of the Holy Spirit, I am to visit the needy, I am to keep myself unspotted from the world....
And God has already given me the opportunities to put my faith into action. I've been reaching out to one of our widow ladies and seeing with new eyes how it must be to be elderly, alone, to have worries, fears, financial pressures, etc. How much I take for granted when I am surrounded by a husband and children who look out for me on every hand. And being involved in our neighbor lady's life and seeing her take courageous steps of faith to follow Christ fully. To see into her heart and the loneliness, fears, worries, cares she has. My day began early this morning by driving her to a doctor's appointment at 5:45. Picking her back up at 8:00, taking her to physical therapy at 11:00, picking her back up at 12:00.
Faith in Action....How pure is my religion?
