Verse and a Quote

Verse: For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. (James 1:23-25)

Quote: If lips and life do not agree, the testimony will not amount to much. H. A. Ironside

 As I did my devotional this morning this verse came to mind. It was not a random thing, because I have been contemplating it quite a bit lately. I have been looking at my life and wondering does it match the words I speak to friends and family? Do the words I speak match a lifestyle fully given over to the Lord and then is my life the practical application of those words before those same friends and family?

I believe that as believers we struggle daily with the idea that our words must match our walk. I have seen two responses to this in my own life. The first I have seen is the "clam up" response. Instead of changing my walk to match the words I know I just stop saying anything at all so that I have nothing to fail at in my walk. I know that is wrong because that is just an external solution to an internal problem. The second response I have seen is that I live hypocritically before the world. My words and my walk are diametrically opposed to each other. With this I bring shame to the Gospel message and dull the true work at the cross.

I pray always that my walk would exemplify James 1:25, that I would persevere and that I would be a hearer that does act on what I know and hear. I pray that like the Ironside quote above says, that I would have a life and lips that agree. Oh how I pray that I would have that vision in the mirror of a man that sees the reflection of Christ in his life and not the reflection himself.

Peace!