Just Do It

Journey through James: 1:22-25

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. — James 1:22-25

Just do it. We have likely all heard this slogan before, and it provides an accurate description of these verses in James. James tells us that we need to be doers of the Word, not just hearers only. 

James just told us that we need to receive the word humbly; that is how true and lasting change starts. However, it is not enough to just hear or receive the Word; we must also act on it. If we hear the Word yet remain unchanged, we are deceiving ourselves. To hear God’s Word and not change is to lie to ourselves. We have an amazing capacity to deceive ourselves, and this is why James warns us against self-deception throughout his letter. We can mislead ourselves into thinking it is merely enough to just hear the Word of God and then go about our day.

True hearing of God’s Word results in obedience and action. James tells us that when we only hear the Word of God we are like a man who intently looks at himself in the mirror and then walks away without making any changes. Many of us take time to look in the mirror before we head to work or start our day. However, the time we take to look in the mirror is only as valuable as the actions we take as a result. If I look at myself in the mirror for 5 minutes (which is roughly 4:50 longer than I need) and then do nothing, the mirror does me no good. The mirror may have shown me that my hair was all messed up, I had stuff in my teeth and dirt on my face. However, if all I do is look, I will walk away unchanged. The point of the mirror is to point out what needs to be changed. The mirror cannot make those changes for me, I need to make the changes in response to what I see in the mirror. Thankfully, since I have grown a beard, there are minimal changes I can make.

God’s Word functions as a spiritual mirror for our lives. His Word reveals what is wrong within our hearts and things we need to change. However, merely hearing God’s Word is not enough. We need to take action based on what His Word reveals. We need to start by hearing God’s Word because if we attempt to make changes without spending time in God’s Word, we will likely make a huge mess of things. That is why hearing and doing go together. We must hear and act. It is not enough to hear, and it’s unwise to act before hearing.

Take time to read God’s Word, to look at your heart in the reflection of His truth. Then by His grace, take the steps you need to take in order to grow. Hearing without action will lead to frustration and despair. Action without hearing will lead to pride and indifference. Spending time in God’s Word followed by obeying His Word will lead to joy and contentment.