James 2:15-17

NIV Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

The Message: For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

James continues the theme of faith and works here with the example of passing a friend who is in need and yet all you do is bless them and walk on. Whilst it is lovely to be blessed in this way, it does not put food on the table, pay the bills, keep us warm. Just praying for someone to be filled with the Holy Spirit is all very well and may satisfy their spiritual needs, but it does not satisfy personal needs of food, clothing, and so on. It is all very well telling someone you will pray for them, but if you have the ability to help them here and now, to provide whatever it is they need, then why not do that as well?

When we become believers, we are changed inwardly to become more like Christ. This may take time, weeks, months, years but sometimes change can happen literally instantaneously. Whether it takes time or is an immediate result, our faith is evidenced to others by the changes in our behaviour, how we talk, the things we do. It is all very well to say you are a Christian and that you believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, but if you never change your ways, if you still drink too much, take drugs, swear like a trooper, are self centred and bigoted, prejudiced against those who don't fit in to your way of thinking, people of a different colour, race, faith, etc, then how are people to know you are truly a believer? Jesus did not say one thing and do another. The things he taught were evidenced by his lifestyle, the way he behaved, whether people were watching him or not. He didn't just have compassion for the sick, the poor, the sinners when people were around him, but he had that same compassion and love when people were not there.

Yes, you will always find people who say they are Christians but act in a way that gives this the lie. You will also find Christians who say one thing yet do something completely different behind closed doors. They give the impression of being faithful, honest, upright and yet they are misers, hoarding every penny, or they are unfaithful to their wives. Then there are also the Christians who say very little but do an awful lot, much of it unbeknownst to others.

We cannot go around saying one thing and doing another. Our behaviour needs to reflect our faith. This means we need to do as well as say. As it says in The Message, God talk without God acts is outrageous. Words without actions are useless. We need to practise what we preach and demonstrate by our lives and how we live them that we are Christians. Show the love of God to others by the things that we do.