For the past month we have been going through a study of the book of James together as a church. Week after week the same theme keeps coming up – Our faith is more than just something we believe; true faith affects the things we do. As I hear this same message repeated, my mind goes to the list of things that the Bible tells us to do. As followers of Christ, we have a huge list of things that Jesus did that we are told to imitate.
For starters:
Love one another – John 13:34-35
Carry each other’s burdens – Galatians 5:26
Forgive one another – Ephesians 4:32
Encourage one another – Hebrews 3:13
Show hospitality to one another – 1 Peter 4:9
Pray for each other – James 5:16
The thought of living out my faith and doing even this partial list of things well is overwhelming. The world is a big place and there are a lot of people in it. Even if I narrow my “one another” list to people in my church – I don’t even know all the people at church yet, I meet new people every weekend. Not to mention the fact that most of our time together on Sundays is spent quietly facing forward listening to the sermon. Do we really think we can live out our faith and carry each other’s burdens in the 10 – 15 minutes before and after the church service? Rather than throw in the towel because the task seems challenging, remember that faith is a muscle that we build through obedience.
So start small:
-Who is one person that you can encourage today?
-Who is one person that you need to forgive?
-Who is one person that you can show love to?
From there, take the next step, and as you live out your faith in obedience that faith will grow.