James 1:22-27
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
What does James mean by pure? I think he means that we are living out our faith in such a manner that we are not expecting anything in return when we help another. He wants giving and helping because that is our way of life. He wants us to have no motive behind our generosity. So when we are helping widows and orphans in distress, we know we are not going to receive anything in return for our action. Isn't ironic that he has to teach us to be careful that our "charitable or loving" actions are not self-centered or self-serving?
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It is not the nature of our culture to do something for someone and not receive some kind of thanks or praise. We give a gift, we expect a thank you (usually in the form of a note), we loan money or let a friend borrow something, we expect for it to be returned and for the favor to be reciprocated in the future. How many times do I do things with the thought of how this will come back and benefit me? Too much. And what if I don't want anything in return, but I want to tell people what I've done, is that self-centered and self-serving?
ReplyDeleteOne of my problems is how I can reach out and help those who are hurting-the orphans and widows. I think it needs to be some large act, that will make a huge impact all at once. I was talking to my friend about this the other day and she said that anything could turn in to something big, it doesn't have to start out that way. We may never know how our small action turned in to a huge thing for someone else, we may never see the result of our actions in our lifetime. I have been constantly reminding myself of that lately.
The first part of this passage reminds me so much of our book, "The Hole in our Gospel." It seems that is what Stears is telling us - to not just listen to God's word but do what it says by "acting!" What a time that we can all take action to help out in Haiti in one way or another. For most of us, that will be to give a money donation which is great. However, we know that God is calling us to do much more - not particularly in Haiti but wherever we are!
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