Mirror, Mirror On the Wall...HEAR AND DO THE WORD - Lesson for 2/2/2014

This review is brought to you by the Hope Temple Church of God in Christ Sunday School Department.  

St. James 1:19-27 | King James Version (KJV)

19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear , slow to speak , slow to wrath:

20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way , and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was .

25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.

27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

With so many points of wisdom in the book of James, where do we begin?

This particular lesson the writer comes out of the gate with one of the things I often heard as a child…”God gave us 2 ears and only 1 mouth for a reason!” Being slow to speak and quick to hear is very crucial in our natural and spiritual lives. Imagine a person who knows it all (or even worse, THINKS they know it all). Many times, you’ll find them with a characteristic of finishing another person’s sentences or even putting words in another’s mouth. As we listen, we are giving our brains the opportunity to process the information that we are hearing. Most people are visual learners as well. Hearing and processing information allows our brains to map memories of what we have experienced in the past, and imagine ideas of what the future could bring.

Side note: People tend to base expectations on the experiences they have already lived and witnessed. This is why it is SO important to LISTEN and hear of the goodness of God. We know that He is not respecter of persons. Revelation 12:11 has us overcoming by the words of our testimony. These words have overcoming power and faith boosts for those who are willing to listen to them as well.

Fully listening is also admonished here. How many times have we jumped the gun by not hearing the whole story? Not hearing the entire story could lead to becoming angry prematurely. We need to hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14. There is a connection between not managing negative emotions and a person’s well-being. Controlling anger is something that is learned. A person who cannot control their anger is just waiting for an outward attack by anyone (including themselves) Proverbs 25:28. In addition, if a person doesn’t control themselves once, or twice, they begin to learn that stressing and acting OUT is the way to handle situations. We see these tendencies when people are children. If it’s not checked, the person could be a miserable adult.

Side note: We have all heard it before. How is it that we can receive news and information we don’t want to hear from co-workers and even strangers without backlashing or becoming outwardly angry. Then, when we get home, with our family and loved ones, we grow angry at the drop of a hat? When we step back and see that this is a ploy of Satan to destroy our most intimate ties, we will definitely rethink how we take our loved ones for granted and seek to mend and not end our relationships.

Anger cannot produce God’s righteousness. Only the Word of God inside you can cause those results. The Word of God tells us to love our enemy, be long suffering, think about perfect things, and continue to see the best in others. It is truly amazing to see a life which lines up with the scripture in the midst of what SHOULD cause us to be angry.

Verse 22 reminds us to not just provide that lip service, but really live this thing out!

Side note: Some years ago, the popular group Milli Vanilli was completely exposed for mimicking the lyrics to their songs. Their adoring followers never even realized that they were going through the motions and not really as talented as they seemed to be. As a result, their Grammy was stripped from them and they were made the topic of open criticism and named frauds! If wicked people who are able to judge naturally can impose such harsh penalties for being perpetrators and wannabes, can you image how God will respond to those who do this same thing spiritually? (My LAWD!)

Then, the writer says that the person who speaks about the Word of God, but neglects to do it, is like a person who can’t even remember what they look like…after just seeing themselves in the mirror.

Side note: The Word of God should be like a mirror, but many people will use it like a glass window. Instead of seeing ourselves and lining our lives up with God’s Word, how many times do we look at God’s Word and use it to see out and into other people’s lives, highlighting where they are NOT lining up, emphasizing their sins, and using it to judge others. Remember, as we allow our lives to be the mirror that reflects the image of Christ (think YPWW Pledge), our mirrors will reflect the Light of Christ and His light can shine in even the darkest places to lead others to Him.

We need to put our faith in action! Nike says, “Just Do It!” We will continue to learn along the way and we step out into the action of the Word of God. The Christian is able to grow in their faith (from faith to faith as God’s righteousness is revealed…Romans 1:17)

There is a graph known as Dale’s Cone of Experience, which is referenced here.

Basically, if a person sees and says, they don’t even come close to learning as much as they do when they are actually doing. And, what’s even better, they learn the most as they are teaching others. This chart even speaks to those who learn by watching others. It’s not the same as doing it on your own.

Be sure that you are the true witness God is calling for today. It’ll take real men and women of God to be reflections of His love to draw others to Him.

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