Whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it . . . will be blessed in what they do. James 1:25
“Who’s in the mirror?” the psychologists conducting the self-recognition test asked children. At eighteen months or younger, children don't usually associate themselves with the image in the mirror. But as kids grow, they can understand they’re looking at themselves. Self-recognition is an important mark of healthy growth and maturation.
It’s also important to the growth of believers in Jesus. James outlines a mirror recognition test. The mirror is “the word of truth” from God (James 1:18). When we read the Scriptures, what do we see? Do we recognize ourselves when they describe love and humility? Do we see our own actions when we read what God commands us to do? When we look into our hearts and test our actions, Scripture can help us recognize if our actions are in line with what God desires for us or if we need to seek repentance and make a change.
James cautions us not to just read Scripture and turn away “and so deceive [ourselves]” (v. 22), forgetting what we’ve taken in. The Bible provides us with the map to live wisely according to God’s plans. As we read it, meditate on it, and digest it, we can ask Him to give us the eyes to see into our heart and the strength to make necessary changes.
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.m
23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror
24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom,n and continues in it—not
forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.o
26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tonguesp
deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.
27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look afterq orphans and widowsr
in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.s
INSIGHT
- What do you see when you look into the mirror of Scripture?
- What changes do you need to make?
James calls his readers to not just hear the words of the law—most likely referring to the laws given through Moses—but to put them into practice. In Matthew 7, Jesus reminds us that everyone who “hears [His]words . . . and puts them into practice” is like the man who builds on a solid foundation (vv. 24–27). In James 1:27, the writer describes how we put what we hear into action when we “look after orphans and widows.” James, like the prophets before him, is calling believers in Jesus to care for those who are vulnerable (see Isaiah 1:16–17). This is the practice of God Himself: “He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing” (Deuteronomy 10:18). James is calling us to be like God our Father in the same way that Jesus calls us to be perfect like our heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48).
PRAYER
Dear God, please help me use Scripture as a mirror into my life, my motives, and my actions. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen!!
Read: James 1:22-27 (NIV) | Bible in a Year: Isaiah 17-19; Ephesians 5:17-33
