Beautiful Word Devotional #173

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

James 2:26

The moment you see or touch the body of a person who has died, you know he or she is not there. That person’s spirit has departed.

James used this universal fact of death in an analogy to cement the important truth that faith without actions is the same as a dead body. It is only an empty shell of faith.

But the opposite is also true. Once we’ve been saved, that reality should inform our entire lives. After all, our heart is no longer the same. It used to be dead in sin, but the Holy Spirit has given it new life.

May the outcome of this rebirth be our faith in action. May we—because of the presence of the Holy Spirit within us—find that we can’t help but love the unlovely, feed the poor, pray for the sick, and forgive our enemies. What a witness to the world of a living faith in Jesus!

Lord, I want my faith to be alive, pointing people to you who have forgiven my sins and changed my heart, amen.