Faith and action James 2:14- 25 & Luke 10:25-37

The Bible says, ‘Faith without works is death!!!!!’

Faith is complete trust or confidence in someone or something. Faith in the bible is heart-based, it is beyond intellect. As faith is of the heart, it serves as an unshakeable based for the one who possesses it and thus not threatens by anything or anyone. By faith, we are not carried away by any situation instead we are able to move mountains. (Mk 11:23, Rom 10:10).

Faith is not a belief system, it is engaging divine capacity to deliver God’s will on earth and its ultimate effect is to give one rest. Faith helps us to enter God’s rest regardless of what is around us as shown in Heb 4:9-12. Furthermore, Faith defies all the laws of nature.

Faith believes there is a special reality with God and as such, it begins with hope; it starts with the sense of discontent & longing for something better. Faith is a conviction of the unseen- an awareness of an invisible spiritual kingdom. Faith puts us immediately in touch with reality as it is in the Spiritual kingdom.

I will be using the story of the good Samaritan as our case study (Lk 10:25-37). True faith can transform our thoughts, conduct and it also enables us in the deeds of loving service to God and to humanity. True faith always results in good deeds as we will discover in the different ways faith is put into action.

How to put faith in action

1) See: We are to see and identify a need, then act to give a solution. The good Samaritan not only saw the man who needed help, but he stopped, came where the man was and listened. By so doing he gained perspective, empathy, and compassion. This then gave him the wisdom to put his faith in action. Listening helps us to see with God’s eyes, it causes our perspective to grow and it gives us the wisdom to know how to respond.

2) Decide: Deciding is making a commitment. Making a decision involves going through the process of discernment. In the parable of the good Samaritan, the other men who walked the same road as he, decided they would not commit in helping the man who needed help, instead, they focused their commitment to other things… But the Good Samaritan decided to put his faith in action, by rendering loving service to his neighbour.

3) Act: Our actions are very important because we cannot talk the talk and not walk the walk. Our deed is a good mirror of who we are, and our action is the realization of what we think, believes and therefore, the outcome of what we do.

You see, our actions are like a tree, our deeds the fruit the tree produces. So, our actions must be loving towards others, in order to produce healthy, good and supper nice fruits. In our case study, Jesus explained that the Samaritan deeds were loving thy neighbour. When we love, our actions will show it, lack of love is often easily justified, even though it is never right.

4) Praying for and forgiving someone who has wrong you; It really does not matter if the border to say sorry or not for what they have done. Leave them to the Lord and make your own path straight with your God, for everyone will answer before God, according to their deeds. It is our duty to forgive and pray for all men, especially those who have wronged us, that way the bible says we are putting burning coal on their heads (Prov 25:22)

5) Holding of our tongue; We must be quick to listen but slow to speak (James 1:19). We must take time to really think before we speak, instead of just spouting out whatever comes to the mind. If we are angry, is best to be silent because in anger it is very easy to curse than to bless. There is the power of life and death on the tongue…

6) Stop complaining and start thanking God for the blessings He bestowed to us. Complaining about God’s doing is a bottomless pit; it keeps one stagnant, it does not allow room for spiritual growth and thus, prevent us from drawing close to God. No matter how bad we think things are in our life’s, we are a step better than others. We have good health, set of clothes to change, food to eat, a roof over our head etc. We are blessed beyond all measures, yet we are not grateful to God for blessing us.

There are some people who do not have even a quarter of what we have got, so why would we not be thankful? If we stay in the complaining state, we would not be able to experience God’s infinite wisdom. For His wisdom show us clearly those things we could not see by ourselves & He gives us the strength to go through a challenging situation with ease.

We should learn to count our blessings and be grateful, appreciating God because not all the trouble we face are from Him. Some we cause them for ourselves, others the devil and others are a test to our faith.

7) Organising one house and mind; keep yourself principled so that your family will get the best of you. Learn to manage your anger, stress, and your ways instead of lashing or transferring your stress to others. We do not need to take out our frustration on others, especially our family. For our family is supposed to be our source of happiness, comfort, and joy. We should make our home a peaceful place, a place of rest, physically and spiritually.

8) Pray without ceasing; In Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, he wrote ‘rejoice in the Lord always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you’ (1Thes 5:16-18). Prayer compresses of four-part as we might or not know.

a) Adoration Praises to God

b) Contrition confessing of sins

c) Thanksgiving Thanking God for His blessings.

d) Supplication Asking for the things we need

In conclusion, faith and action intermarried, none is better or good without the other. Faith is putting God’s word to action and every miracle is facilitated by faith.

Let us get rid of those things which do not matter now, those things which are not helping our spiritual growth. Jesus is the only one person and His words are the only thing that should truly matter right now. Therefore, let us put our faith in Him and display this in our actions.

It can be helpful to evaluate each area of our lives to see where we might need to grow in the Lord. How are we doing in each area? My little homework for us is, for us to ask a trusted friend to share with us, what they see in us with regards to the putting of our faith in action.

Let the love that is found in Christ be seen in us today and always in Jesus name Amen.