Doers, Not Hearers Series

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. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. [James 1:22-25, ESV]

“Actions speak louder than words.”

Yes, that saying has been said so often that most people will roll their eyes whenever they hear it, but there is a reason why that saying has been used so often. The reality is that actions do speak louder than words. That fact of life is nothing new, and in James 1:22-25, we see James saying the same thing that our mothers and fathers have told us.

James explains the way we must consult the Word of God, how we should apply the Word to our lives, how we must not let the Word exist in our minds but not our hearts. What good is a diploma if never used to apply for a job? What good is money if it is never spent? What good is wisdom if it is never applied? What good is our faith if we do not live it out? We must not let life stop us from living out the faith that we have in Jesus Christ. We must serve God in all areas of life, at all times, in every situation.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

For the second time in James 1, James tells us not to be deceived. Given the way James phrases this verse, we know that James is writing about something that had become a problem in the Church. The human mind is highly susceptible to deception, especially when it is complicit in being deceived.

As an American, I often meet people who will live sinful lifestyles, who do not read the Bible, who never pray, who never go to church, who never make any effort to live as Christians are supposed to live, yet they consider themselves to be Christians. I am not able to say that those people are not Christians (I can only tell you that I am a Christian), but I can say that their faith is not worth much. If I called myself a Christian (which I do), yet I lived a life of sin (which I used to), what would that say about my faith? Those who love God love to live according to His Word. People who love God will hear the Word, and they will put the Word into practice in their lives.

Many people fall into a life of sin because they lack faith in Christ. Many people are raised in the church, so they feel as if they are Christians. I used to be one of those people, and I can say that my faith was virtually worthless. I believe that I have always been a Christian, but I certainly did not live up to my professed faith.

We are unable to save others, and we cannot be saved by other people. We receive the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, and through Christ alone. Having received the gift of salvation, we must turn from our sinful ways, seek the Lord, and live according to God’s Word.

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 makes an excellent analogy to help us understand the difference between being a hearer of the Word and a doer of the Word. A hearer is like a person who goes to a mirror and stares at his reflection, only to go somewhere else and forget what he looks like. I have not looked at myself for a few hours, but I remember what I look like. The point is not that the man staring at his reflection has some kind of memory loss, the point is the man looked at himself, yet he did nothing with what he saw.

I used to go to church, listen to the sermon, go home, and forget about what I heard. I did not value God’s Word in the way that I do now, and I was merely a hearer of the Word. I read the entire Bible, yet I struggle to remember anything that I had read. Since rededicating my life to Christ, I have found that I love the Bible, I love knowing the Lord, and I love living the Word out in my life.