James 4.11
Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.

It is so easy to judge others; maybe they are doing wrong in our eyes, but that does not give us the right to make a judgement on them for their actions.

Yes, people make mistakes, but don’t we all make mistakes? What makes my mistake any better than yours. James is a short but very powerful gospel. Another verse that fits well with this one is James 2.24.

James 2.24
You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

Many people think, all they need to do is attend service each week, and read the word of the Lord, and all will be ok. Meaning, whatever they do the rest of the week is ok. It is the complete opposite, what you do the other 6 days, if anything, is more important.

There is no point “eating the alter rails,” as my grandma used to say, if you talk badly of others, and spread gossip the rest of the week. Something that often gets over looked, is the judgement we deliver upon ourselves. How many times during the week, do we belittle ourselves, with judgemental opinions, saying things like,

I can’t…
L’ll never…
I’m not good enough..

Our children and those around us, don’t do as we say, they do as we do. This is a very important point, actions speak much louder than words. I can try to motivate someone for years, but the moment that i actually do something in my own life, only then do these people stand up and say, well if he can make a change, so can I.

Life Lesson

From today, realise, that all our actions are not just been monitored by God, but more importantly, by those around us. Children, friends, and family. We need to be more aware of our words and actions throughout the week, not just on Sunday.

None of us are perfect, but it is very important to develop a little gap of awareness, you are about to say something bad about a person, learn to pause, often,  all that is required is a restructuring of our words, so instead of speaking in judgement, we speak with compassion or empathy.

Read Often

James is a gospel that is full of strenght and one that i return to often, when anyone has done something against me, a family member or friend.

I would like to leave you with my favorite verses in James gospel.

James 1.2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

 

Have a good weekend, share words of love.
Rev J Martin