“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.” James 1:22-24 (ESV)
If you are simply “hearing” God’s Word and not “doing” it (or applying it to your life), then you truly are deceiving yourself. You may pat yourself on the back for being in church every Sunday for the sermon, or for reading your Bible and learning verses, but that is not the whole of what we as Christians are called to do. If we do not apply the Scriptures to our lives, how easily they can “go in one ear and out the other” and be forgotten, as the man in James’ example forgets what his own face looks like. James here in today’s verses reminds — and indeed challenges — us that we must act on what we are reading and hearing from the Scriptures in order to grow spiritually. If we want a closer walk with God and deeper roots of spiritual wisdom then we must live out the words within His Word. So, are you just hearing or are you doing?
Jessica Ford
Communications Director
Alive Ministries USA