James 1:22-25

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

Personal Challenge

One area of Christian doctrine that often generates great and vigorous, sometimes vehement debate, is the area of works. There are some faith practices that will go to the extreme of belittling or even trying to eliminate recognition of any works for fear that someone might think they are earning their way into Heaven. I have been on the receiving end of this teaching multiple times. In Orthodoxy, we believe that there is nothing that we can do on our own to earn salvation. Salvation only comes from the mercy of God through the works of His son, Jesus Christ. However, we do agree with the teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, that we eagerly do the works of God because of that salvation. His works all boil down to loving God and loving our neighbor. These are the perfect law of liberty that sets us free. These are what all of our works should be grounded in. This is what it means to be doers of the word, and not hearers only. So we do believe in doing works for our God. The works are not to earn us anything but come from our gratitude and joy of the blessings poured out upon us. Glory be to God! Let’s go and do likewise.

James 1:19-20

So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Personal Challenge

It is so easy to jump to a conclusion in a situation and start blurting out my response. All too often that response is premature and ends up making the situation so much worse. This is such good advice to keep both ourselves and others in our relationship from resorting to angry responses. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

James 1:17

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

Encouraging Words

We believe that our God, the Father, is pure uncreated light and that everything, whether visible to us or invisible, is exposed by that uncreated light. He sees all and is in all. We receive from Him every good and perfect gift, especially the gift of eternal life through His Son. He never sways or is distracted from His love for His creation and us. Glory be to Him!

James 1:14-15

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

Personal Challenge

To continue James’ dissertation on temptation and sin, we are reminded that we, alone, are responsible for the sin in our lives. We cannot say, “The devil made me do it.” There are so many ways that temptation enters our lives. If we are trying to live a godly life, one that seeks to be like Christ, then we will constantly be confronted by temptations that are contrary to that desired life. Temptations, in and of themselves, are not bad and not sins. If, however, we entertain that temptation to the point where it arouses one of our desires or passions that we have been striving to control or eliminate in our lives, then we have started down the path to sin. It is still not too late to say, “No!”, and to run to God for help. If however, we choose to entertain that desire or passion, then sin has now been conceived and will be acted upon. This is all a series of choices that we make. The challenge in our lives is to keep saying, “No!”, to the temptations and the desires, and “Yes!”, to Christ. The blessing in all of this is that our God still stands ready to forgive us of our sins if we repent and return to Him. Glory be to God!

James 1:13

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.

Personal challenge

It is so easy to get mad at God when temptations come our way, but He will not and cannot tempt us. Many temptations in our lives come from our own doing. We either harbor a passion or a desire and then do things to feed them or we “innocently” walk into that donut shop when we are in the middle of a diet. We cause our own temptations in these situations. Many temptations come from the fallen world that we live in. In all cases, it is not God that tempts us. God is there to help us through the temptation. He does allow the temptations in order to strengthen us and to teach us. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.

James 1:12

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

Encouraging Words

Having temptations showing up in our lives does not mean that we are not being good Christians. To the contrary, it means that we are striving to be like Christ. It is when we give in to the temptation that we are sinning. One measure of our progress on our journey to theosis is how well we endure the temptations. It is this endurance the leads to the crown of life promised to us. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

James 1:5-6

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

Encouraging Words

God does not leave us alone in our trials and tribulations. He stands ready to give us the wisdom that we need to make it through to the other side. However, we must be willing to recognize that we do not have the wisdom that we need and we must be willing to humble ourselves before our God seeking Him to give us the wisdom needed. God does not skimp in the wisdom that He gives us. He gives it to us liberally and without reproach if we pursue Him in faith and asking without doubting. We can have confidence in Him and His promises. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.

Hebrews 13:17

Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.

Personal Challenge

Obedience, something that we all struggle with all of the days of our lives. It starts with having to obey our parents, then our teachers, then our employers. Somewhere in that constant shift of who we have to obey, we also realize that we have to obey those who are governing us, whether it be the police officer enforcing traffic laws or elected government officials. It is this last group that this verse is so often applied to. But what about our religious leaders. The Orthodox church is a hierarchical church. The priest presides over the local parish and has the final say so there. But he is submissive to the bishop who presides over the diocese and the local parishes that comprise it. Finally, the bishops, collectively form the synod who collectively guide the jurisdiction. And they, like all of us in the Church, are submissive to our ultimate Head, Jesus Christ. In our modern age of individualism, we have a tendency to pick and choose who we submit to and obey. We believe that we have the right to set the rules and expect others to abide by them. In respect to this verse, we are truly mistaken if we believe this. We are told to obey those who rule over us and to be submissive to them. We do that because they are being held accountable by God to be good shepherds and spiritual fathers to us. We should not make their jobs any harder than it already is. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!