Scripture

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

James 2:15-17 (NIV)

 Devotional by Greta Smith

           As I was growing up, my mother used to repeat to me a saying passed down from her grandmother to her mother and then to her. It goes like this: “Pretty is as pretty does.” As conflicted as the cultural messages about beauty and esteem were for an adolescent girl trying to find her way, I understood the truth of those words, because I had experienced it. I knew that a person could be physically beautiful but act in a way that was ugly and unkind toward someone else, and it was like they morphed before my very eyes.

In a similar way, we might paraphrase the verses we just heard from the book of James: “Faith is as faith does.” James is telling us that a living, breathing faith moves with purpose. Faith that is living is active and shows itself in good deeds. And if we are not moved to reach out and act when we encounter the needs of others, our faith may as well be dead.

Just like my perception of a person’s physical attractiveness can be changed when I see them act in a way that is ugly, it is sobering to think how often peoples’ perception of the church is negative because they see a group of people proclaiming faith but don’t see that faith lived out in action. 

Friends, “Faith is as faith does.” How will we “do faith” in our encounters today?

Prayer

Lord, forgive us when we fail to show our faith in action. Open our eyes to the needs of those around us, and move us to live our faith not only in words but in deeds. Amen.