July 28, 2025

Living Out Our Faith
James 1:26-27  (HCSB)
26 If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, then his religion is useless and he deceives himself. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Dana Dorris
In these two scriptures, James is giving us both a warning and a description of how we, as Christians, should behave. Much like the timetable of these writings, the world is our stage but also our distraction. When we become Christians, it means we are to become “Christ-like” in what we say and in what we do. James is saying that we MUST know what Christian behavior looks like. How many times have your words and actions not matched? For me, it’s probably been more than I’d want to admit. As a nurse, I made a commitment to take care of any person who comes into the hospital for help. I don’t think about what they look like, where they live, how well dressed they are, or even how they may treat me. I am not there to BE impressed, I’m there to make an impression upon them and give the best of who I am at that time. Every one of my patients I consider vulnerable, but the scriptures point specifically to orphans and widows. I believe those are examples of a vulnerable population of people (especially in those days). Perhaps James is saying that when our actions don’t align with our words, there’s a big problem. This world makes it very difficult to guard your heart, your words, and your actions, but we are set apart from the world - or at least that’s how it should be....no, that’s how it MUST be. When we outwardly profess one thing, but we do another, that gives people a perspective of who we are on the inside. This is what is meant by “worthless religion”. Worthless essentially means something without value. Do we want our actions and words to have value? If so, we need to make sure our actions and words match our profession of Faith. If you recognize times in your own life where this didn’t occur, let’s return to the instruction manual. Let’s show worthiness. Let’s give Glory where Glory is due, not for our own gain, but to gain souls for the Kingdom. Remember, you may be the only example of Jesus that someone has ever seen....make it count.