Should your beliefs affect your behavior?
May 20-24, 2024 | Always Peachy Devotionals | Book of James Week 4
Where do your beliefs and your actions intersect?
That’s one of the primary questions the Book of James forces us to consider. The focus of this little letter is practical, all about everyday Christian living. What we say, how we think, how we act, and whether it glorifies God or ourselves.
Remember, James wasn’t written to unbelievers. He wrote to the Church. This is one reason why the Book of James is so important for modern-day Christians to learn. Many of the things the people in the Early Church struggled with are still challenging us today. Maybe they’ve taken a different form in some instances, but the core of the problems haven’t changed.
James has so much for is that it’s really tough to break it down into only five weeks of study, so let me encourage you to read James on your own. It’s not a long letter. Only five chapters. But they are some of the most powerful chapters in the New Testament, and if you let them permeate your heart and mind, it will change the way you live.
This week, we’re tackling James 3, which really drills down on some of our motivations and our attitudes when it comes to interacting with other believers. Here’s what’s on our list to talk about this week:
The source of conflict and your motives (James 4:1)
Friendship with the world (James 4:4)
Acknowledge your sin (James 4:9-10)
Don’t criticize (James 4:11)
Don’t brag about tomorrow (James 4:14-15)
I know. It’s all tough to swallow. But if it didn’t matter, God wouldn’t have put it in the Bible. We know from other passages, specifically 2 Timothy 3:16-17, that all Scripture comes from God Himself. Breathed into men who wrote it down for us to have for teaching and instruction and correction. God’s Word has endured for thousands of years so that we could know His heart and His plan of salvation for the whole world.
None of us can escape our sinful natures as long as we live on earth, but the culture we’re in now tries to tell us that sin doesn’t exist.
It does.
We don’t have to be trained how to sin. Isn’t that odd? We are born with the desire to break the rules.
I don’t know if there is a better verse that explains what sin is outside of our memory verse this week, James 4:17.
Knowing what you should do but refusing to do it. That’s sin. Knowing what is right but choosing to do wrong. Pretty clear, huh?
Thank God that He saved us from sin’s penalty. Death. Eternal separation from Him. Because of what Jesus did for us, we can live free, abundant, beautiful lives full of hope and joy. And it’s only through Jesus.
We can deny our sin if we want, but it doesn’t take long to realize that strategy doesn’t work. You can’t pretend your sin away. You can’t deny it. You can’t hide it. Sooner or later, we all have to face our sin, but thanks to Jesus, we don’t have to live with it.
Love you guys. Hang in there. Whatever you’re going through this week, you’re not alone. God sees. He’s got a plan. Remember, He always keeps His promises.
Hugs!
Amy
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