Lesson 4

James 1 :22-26 New King James

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 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; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 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.

26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

First Impression?

• My focus on this passage was always on the mirror. My goal was to look in the mirror and then forget all my flaws and then walk through the day. I never considered that someone would forget what kind of person they were.

Deceiving yourselves? How can we deceive ourselves when in the Word?

• Touched on this the last passage, but all we have to do is decide not to listen. It is pretty easy and we all do it everyday, some of us all the time.

Hearers only? What does this say for how to understand the Word?

• I have always thought the goal of learning all the Bible had for us like I projected for monks and academics was misguided. I felt being locked away in a monastery made one worthless. Now maybe I have been given the negatives of what monks do, but I always felt we were to love others and that putting what we know and learn into action was the goal. I have always felt experience with a topic was better than just an education.

Doers of the Word? What are some steps in doing the Word?

• New answer. I do not remember where I heard this, but it was probably in a sermon by our pastor. Pray, Plan, Proceed. I have taken to putting it on my weekly calendar to remind me not to get so caught up in the doing that I forget to do the right thing, or the most right thing. So for me, this means to focus on what God wants for me to do, figure out what that means in what I have to do, and then make sure I get those things done, unless of course the plan changes.

Natural face in a mirror? When did they get mirrors? What is a natural face?

• No one knew when mirrors appeared, but probably a long time ago. I assume one’s natural face in this context is what everyone can see from the outside with no prejudices in place.

Observes, goes away, immediately forgets? Sounds like me?

• See above.

What kind of man he was? I do not remember this verse ending on this topic. How does looking in the mirror remind us of what kind of man we are?

• Mainly we see our own flaws and can project how our sins make us less than worthy. We can all use this for positive or negative as we choose.

Looks into the perfect law of liberty? What does this have to do with looking in a mirror?

• My thoughts guide me to the fact that when we look in the mirror, we can chose to see what have been, are, or who we want to be. I think it allows us to see our selves as able to glorify God by our choices.

Continues in it? So is the difference what you look at or remembering?

• Again, I think this is all choice. I can remember what I have done, but I can look at what is possible.

Blessed in what he does? So what about this is not the prosperity gospel?

• The reward. The promises here are not about things of the world but the things of God.

Thinks he is religious? Have you ever thought you were religious?

• I have not. I am a Christian and Christianity is my “religion”, but I do not follow my “religion” to be righteous, as I know that has been given to me and I am only trying to follow my Lord and Savior. I assume the word religious means trying have to get the goal.

Bridle his tongue? What is your bridle?

• Praying to God. Nothing else seems to work.

Useless? How can “scrupulous conformity” be useless?

• If you tried to earn salvation, some tiny thing would trip you up and you would not surrender to Jesus and would not be saved and all your works would not glorify Him.

Religion is this? Is this the same definition in my dictionary?

• I failed to look. I do not align with outcomes as religion, only inputs.

Visit and keep unspotted? How do you define an orphan, a widow, and oneself?

• I know the literal definitions, but I think we need to see ourselves only as a child of God and then treat everyone else individually as a child of God also. My brain does not have a good definition in words, but I seem to have a solid mental picture.