Chapter 1 · Encounter 10 of 48
Hear and Do
Prepare
James warns believers about a subtle danger: hearing God's Word without allowing it to shape their lives. He uses an ordinary experience—looking into a mirror—to describe the difference between hearing and doing. As you read, consider what the mirror reveals and what happens when someone walks away.
Read Scripture
Open each passage here without leaving this Encounter.
James 1:19-27
Listening and Doing
19My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
26Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
John 10:27
27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
Ponder
- James compares hearing God's Word without acting on it to looking in a mirror and immediately forgetting what you've seen. What do you think makes this comparison so effective? How might it describe the way we sometimes engage Scripture?
- Jesus says his sheep hear his voice and follow him. How does James help you think more deeply about that relationship between hearing and following? What might change if you approached Scripture expecting not only to understand it but also to be shaped by it?
Look Again
Did you notice that James describes God's Word as something planted in us (v. 21 21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.James 1:21
Before he speaks about doing what the Word says, he tells his readers to receive it humbly. Later, in verse 25 25But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.James 1:25
Return to those verses. Notice how receiving, attending to, and responding to God's Word belong together.
Practice
Return to one of the Scriptures you've read during this Journey. Choose one thing it has brought to your attention about the Shepherd's character. Then identify one concrete way you can respond to that discovery today.
It may be a change in how you speak, a choice to forgive, an act of kindness, or a willingness to trust God in a particular situation.
Prayer
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you receive God's Word with humility and respond with faithfulness. Pray that Scripture would increasingly shape not only what you believe but also how you live.