Reflection

Others are watching you, wondering if your heart really belongs to God.  Do you know how they determine if you are truly His child?  They look for evidence of the relationship.  No one has to wonder whether or not I am married.  The wedding band on my finger tells the whole story.  The same should be said of the Christian journey.  The evidence is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control.

But these qualities of character do not simply appear, nor do they grow through the force of your will.  They are like fruit, and they grow into your life as a result of your being related to Christ.  You cannot bear this kind of fruit unless you are connected to the Lord.  When these qualities are blatantly evident in your life, God is glorified.  He wants everyone else to know that you belong to Him!  He is proud of you!  God carries your picture in His wallet.

Jesus summed up the key to developing these qualities.  His command to us is this:  Love others as He first loved us.  If you heed His teaching, He will help you develop the character traits that prove to the world that this Earth is not our home.

True Faith

One of the most frequent criticisms applied to Christians is that we
are "hypocrites." Many times this is simply a cheap shot. But,
sadly, sometimes we deserve this label. We can easily believe one
thing, yet do another. Or we might sweetly praise God's name in a
worship service, only to yell mercilessly at the driver who cuts in
front of us on the way home from church.

The issue of hypocrisy is as old as Christianity itself. Just a few
years after the church was born, James wrote a letter addressing the
problem of Christians who fail to live out their faith. In his letter
he offers practical advice for how our lives as Christians can reflect
well upon our faith, and, indeed, upon God.

Perhaps the most familiar section of James is the discussion of faith
and works in chapter 2. On a superficial level, James appears to
contradict Paul's teaching on justification by faith when he says that
"a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone" (2:24;
compare Galatians 2:16). But a more careful reading of James (and
Paul) corrects this misunderstanding. For Paul, genuine faith in
Christ will always be expressed in good works (cf. Ephesians 2:8-10).
Similarly, James claims that faith without works is dead (2:17).

Why does James emphasize the negative side of the discussion? He is
probably responding to a group of Christians who distorted Paul's
original teaching. These individuals claimed that it was sufficient
merely to affirm the truth of the gospel. Faith, for them, required
no active response or life transformation. In fact, their theology
provided a solid foundation for a life of blatant Christian hypocrisy.
James writes to correct their confusion. Both he and Paul would
agree that true faith will transform one's life and be demonstrated in
good works.

Not surprisingly, James's comments on worship emphasize its active,
daily-life implications: "If anyone considers himself religious and
yet does not keep a tight reign on his tongue, he deceives himself and
his religion is worthless" (1:26). What a tragedy that the same mouth
can both praise God and curse people created in God's image (3:9-10)!
To frame the matter more positively, if our worship is genuine the
experience of offering praise to God should transform the way we speak
and relate to others.

Furthermore, our worship must be expressed not only in praise to God,
but also in tangible care for people: "Religion that God our Father
accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and
widows in their distress" (1:27). Since God, who is full of
compassion and mercy, gives generously to us, we should do likewise to
others. This passage reminds us of what Jesus says in Matthew
25:31-46. When we care for "the least" in Jesus' family, we are
caring for Him! So, when we show love to orphans, widows, co-workers,
homeless, even those who have intentionally wronged us, God receives
our actions as offerings of love to Him. There is no greater goal
than to point others toward Christ!

Perspective

Christ is building His kingdom with earth's broken things.  Men want only the strong, the successful, the victorious, the unbroken, in building their kingdoms; but God is the God of the unsuccessful, of those who have failed.  Heaven is filling with earth's broken lives, and there is no bruised reed that Christ cannot take and restore to glorious beauty.  He can take the life crushed by pain or sorrow and transform it into an instrument whose music shall be all praise.  He can lift earth's saddest failure up to Heaven's glory.