To Understand Works, We Need to First Understand Faith

“Faith without works is dead”. (James 2:17) I came across this verse last week and have been contemplating it’s meaning since. It’s a simple sentence, no hidden meaning, yet caused me to wonder if I am doing this “Christian” thing right. If I claim to have faith but am not storing up good works in the Lord’s name for eternity, is my faith in word only? Are works the only tell-tale sign of our faith?

My mind has consistently focused on the word “works” in this verse. The word on its own has a negative connotation. Who wants to do more than they are already doing? My mind goes to my non-Christian friends…reading this verse would become one more tally on their score board for not choosing Christ. It requires work. They would argue that salvation is not a free gift after all. Without understanding true faith, I might readily agree. However, I need to point out that works are the result of salvation, not the means to it. It is essential to understand that works are not shame or guilt based. (Read on to get a better understanding…hopefully)

Here’s the beautiful part. When the world rejects, He embraces. When I am empty, He fills me up. When I can’t seem to hold on to Him, He doesn’t let go of me. When I walk away, He stands by my side. He will never leave me or forsake me (that has got to be my most favorite promise of all!) Though I was in the world, filled with sin, He chose me, gave me His son, paid my punishment of death and gave me life, calling me His daughter. Truly there is none like Him. He is my beginning. He is my end. I love Him with a love that nothing can compare. I have put my hope, trust and life into Him. My faith is in Him.

When you are loved completely and unconditionally like this you can’t help but to love in response. (I love Him because He first loved me.) Love spurs action. Our faith in Him is proven by what we do in response to that belief. Action always stems from a belief. What actions do we live out in response to what we say we believe about the Lord?

I have felt convicted this week. I struggle constantly between being of this world, but not in it. (I don't think I'm quite OK with living in exile yet. See my last post) My most consistent sin, I feel, is hiding my faith at times, caring entirely too much what others think because I desperately desire to be accepted. (There are actually several sins within that sentence, but no need to look more closely). 90% of my day is spent in the world, where by law my faith is to be kept under wraps. My witness, my “works” come out through my motives. Why do I do the work I do? Yes, for the paycheck, but also because I genuinely care about my job. (I know not all of you can say the same) How do I keep my motives pure? I know this will sound like a holier than thou attitude, but it is truth. I pray every morning on the way to work that I would work as if I am serving Him. Working for the school district doesn’t inspire me to give 110%, working as if unto the Lord makes me want to give my everything. I pray that my co-workers would see something different in me. I pray that if they should ask, that I would have the courage to share about the One I love so much, that it is Him I work for every single day.

This week dissecting this scripture, I wondered if I needed to start serving in the church again, if I needed to find more volunteer opportunities to prove my faith in the Lord. After thinking about this, I honestly believe it is not only about that. I believe it is being true to your belief and living your day to day as if you could wrap it up as a present and give it back to the Lord. Oh how I desire more than anything to bring a smile to His face as He opens my gift.

Is My Life Compromised?

I’ve written and rewritten this blog entry in my mind so many times over the last two weeks, yet haven’t attempted to put actual words on paper until now. I thought I could write about something else until I figured out how to go about this inner wrestling but my heart wouldn’t allow another subject to penetrate my soul. Sometimes that’s just how the Lord works in my life…He doesn’t let me off the hook until I totally relinquish it to Him and wait for Him to speak truth back into my life. Over the course of the last two weeks, He has brought countless scriptures, conversations and even yesterday’s sermon to me and released me to write freely today.

Is My Life Compromised?

With all the New Year resolution talk these past weeks I have felt the Lord continually bombarded me with two words: contentment and identity. These two words so vastly different in themselves, yet they blend together like oil pastels on the canvas of the Christian’s life.

Resolutions, I believe are formed from being dissatisfied with some area of our life or in hopes to add something to our life to feel more complete, more joy, more… something. Striving for better or more in our lives isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, I honestly believe, discontentment is wonderful when if forces us to reach beyond ourselves, to perhaps risk. That’s when real growth happens in our lives.

As I think about this, I am asking myself, when was the last time I risked? When was the last time I didn’t hide my faith in the midst of friends or co-workers or even in my church for that matter? My heart aches as I can’t recall. I say I’m not ashamed of my God. I say that I love Him. But do I, if I am trying to resemble the world more than Him? Where do I find my identity?

This brings me back to resolutions and the goals we set for ourselves. Are the goals we’ve made to look more like man or God? Am I more concerned about what I want or what others think than what Jesus thinks? If we resemble man and live up to man’s goals and man’s expectations, we have in a very real sense elevated man to god status. Think about it.

Our Pastor touched on this subject yesterday, when he talked about Peter. Remember how he, Jesus’ best friend and disciple who lived morning, noon and night for three years with Jesus, denied knowing Him; not just once, but three times? Why did he do this? We know he loved Jesus. The answer is simply because he feared man. He was looking for man’s approval, not God’s. With a grievous heart, I wish I could say I have only denied Him three times.

Our identity is to be found in Christ. Our reflection is to mirror Jesus. If we are to live a life of obedience to Christ we will not look like the rest of the world. Are we OK with that? We will live in exile. Are we OK with that? We will feel out of place, perhaps persecuted. Are we OK with that? Beloved, we need to be OK with being holy (set apart, different). I know I will spend my whole live striving to reach this place. I know I will struggle. But I also know my heart leaps at the thought of being more like Jesus. So I risk. I press on.

1 Timothy 6:6 “But godliness with contentment is great gain”. This statement is the key to spiritual growth and personal fulfillment…to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33): Turn to God first for help, to fulfill your thoughts with His desires, to take His character, His pattern.