If you’re gonna talk the talk, you gotta walk the walk

0 Comments 04 June 2009

“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” James 2:14-17

Let me begin this devotional by saying that I DO NOT think that we are saved by doing works. I know that we are saved by grace, BUT I also think that when you have the Holy Spirit residing in you, you will have the DESIRE to search out and do things to serve the body and further the Gospel of Christ. Otherwise, as James put it, “faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead.”

Often times we will see someone in need and say something to them that fits the standard “church” answer (you know the right words to say or prayers to pray), but you don’t actually do anything about it. Has that person’s situation changed? No! You have to take action. This is demonstrated in James 2:15-16: “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?” Is that brother or sister any less naked or hungry when you have left them? No! You would have to take action for that to change. Sometimes words are just not enough. As the saying goes: “If you’re going to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk.”

As Christians, we have been given the command to help others, and we are reminded of this in several places of the Bible. Just a couple of those examples are: Galatians 6:10 ^“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” and Mathew 25:40 “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

So, don’t be a Christian full of kind words and good intentions with no action to back it up. As the saying goes: “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.”