Living out your Faith
How do you live your life? Does what you believe make a difference in how you make decisions? Does it reflect who you are? This week I was reading the part in James that talks about faith and deeds.
In the book of James in the New Testament of the Bible, James 2:18-24,26 says “‘You have faith; I have deeds’. Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that- and shudder. You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believe God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,’ and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone… As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”
This section of Scripture may seem a little heavy and may not make sense to you. But re-read it, think about it. Our salvation and relationship with the Lord is not based on our deeds and anything we can earn. But our actions should reflect what is inside our hearts. If you believe something, shouldn’t your convictions be so important to you that there is no other choice but to live it out? In his book Crazy Love Francis Chan talks about how we don’t have to exaggerate God. “Many Spirit-filled authors have exhausted the thesaurus in order to describe God with the glory He deserves. His perfect holiness, by definition, assures us that our words can’t contain Him. Isn’t it a comfort to worship a God we cannot exaggerate?” We live in a world where so often everyone is trying to be the best, one up other people, have the best picture on Facebook, and be known for something. So we live in a world flooded with people boasting, exaggerating, stretching the truth, and boosting their own egos. God and our faith in Christ is the only thing that has no need to be exaggerated because of how amazing it is. It is. In and of itself, with nothing added, the most amazing thing we have, we experience, and we share. So in reference to our deeds and how we live, why aren’t we overflowing with excitement about our faith? That would be faith and works working together. As I write this, I am experiencing a heart check, and I think it is time to live different. I think it is time to live for the Lord. And I think it is time to have my actions line up with who the Lord is in me. I want my faith to be alive through my deeds. Being alive brings life to others.
Has what you believe changed the way you live your life? If not, how can you live that way?
