James 1: 22 (Amplified Version)
But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].
Jesus said we would be known by our fruit (Matthew 7: 16). It will not be by what we say but rather the evidence of how we behave by which we will be known to Jesus as His own. Probably we all know someone who talks a good game but doesn’t seem to really have the proof in the pudding. In other words, they know the right things to say but their life really doesn’t represent the love that Jesus invested in them. I know someone like that. This person seems to read the Bible, listens to tapes by Christian leaders and reads Christian books and yet, the love of Christ and the Truth of Christ is not readily apparent, and I fear that, perhaps, the same could be said of me.
Now we can all make mistakes and we fall into carnality at times but we really should endeavor to do all that Christ is teaching us. The Bible is not a book for intellectual meditation as much as it is an owner’s manual for each of us. We are to apply what we read there. When it says, do not judge, forgive, pray for those who persecute you, love all, pursue peace and the rest, we are actually supposed to give ourselves over to those behaviors. We’ll not do it all in our own might though. Here is where the love of Christ in our lives manifests itself. In all humility we ask our Dad to help us; to create in us a heart capable of behaving like Jesus. Then we surrender to His ministrations as he makes us into an exact image of Christ exemplified in us. Hallelujah! All this is possible in Him. Let us do what we see in the Bible including letting Him, with our help, transform us into the very image of His dear son. Be ye doers of the Word, not hearers only.