Journal Entry ~ 06/26/18

For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. - James 2:26

If we believe, but we do not have any action, our faith is not complete. If we act without any faith, our faith is not complete. In order for our faith to be perfected, we must have both elements - the belief and the action. You can’t be saved by a faith that has no action - that faith is useless. Faith without works is dead, just as our body with the spirit is dead. If our faith is to become all that God intended for it to be in our lives, there must be equal parts action and faith in our lives. 

There are many who profess a saving faith in Jesus Christ in this world. They wear a cross around their neck, they attend weekly church services and they even make Facebook posts with scripture, all the while the world around them is hurting. People are grieving the loss of loved ones, wresting with the gripping disease of addiction or anxiety, losing their homes and their security, struggling to keep their heads above water. If your faith allows you to profess your love of God to the world, but does nothing more for the people around your than say, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled”, then your faith is not a saving faith. 

God created us to be in community taking care of one another - THAT’S His plan for this world. I had an unbelieving member of my family ask me last week, “if God’s plan is that we all live in unity caring for one another, and there are so many Christians in this world, then why doesn’t that happen more?”  Sadly, my response to her was because the world is filled with broken people who are more focused on themselves than God’s plan. Our faith is shallow when works don’t accompany what we say we believe. 

If we want to reach the lost of this world, we need to be sure our faith is an active faith, that we are putting into practice what we say we believe. Otherwise our faith is dead - to ourselves and to those witnessing in our lives. 


Press on ~ you are loved 💗

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