First Aid

As I delved deeper into the book of James this weekend, I continued to be amazed at his loving but yet stern pastoral approach in the advice he was writing to the church.  The book of James has had its share of dissenters over the years, including Martin Luther.  Luther in his church shaking rediscovery of salvation by grace tended to misinterpret James’ teachings.  He even questioned if the book of James should be in the Bible at all!  One of the commentaries that I recently referred to seemed to best sum up the different perspectives of Paul and James when it came to the subject of works.

The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary determined that “Paul regards faith in the justification of the sinner before God, (whereas) James, in the justification of the believer evidently before men.”  In other words Pastor James was teaching the church about the physical aspects and application of their faith in their daily lives.

In James 2:12 he instructs us to “Talk and act as people who are going to be judged by the laws that bring freedom.”  (God’s Word ©)  Then the next verse does an excellent summation by stating that “kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time.”  (James 2:13 The Message Bible)  In line with this, the Lord challenged me with the question of “What is more important?  The depth of the Gospel you preach or attain to, or the depth of the Gospel that you live?

The way in which we respond to others with our words can mean the difference between putting someone in condemnation to sin (or to a wrong we may think they have done) or in setting them free to seek the Lord’s loving answers for their lives.  James is encouraging us to watch over our words and the way we present them to others.  Thoughts that you may deem as positive to another that are spoken with an attitude of insincerity, superiority, anger or worst of all with fear will immediately put the receiver on the defensive.  It doesn’t take them long at all then, to totally shut off the words that the speaker is trying to convey.  And once again, any trust that was between them is mortally wounded!

On the other hand, words that are spoken in such a way that pour out love, encouragement and mercy will immediately be received and openly considered by the receiver.  Trust me on this one!  My recent experiences over the last few years will heartily attest to this fact!  Because of this type of communication in the past, there are a few individuals that will instantly put me in a defensive mode when they talk to me today.  That trust has been broken and the restoration process will take some time.

How do you speak to others that you love and/or to those that you may feel led to minister to?  It could be a spouse, a parent, a child, a good friend, a work partner or someone off the street.  Our words can be as a soothing ointment or as vinegar poured on an open wound.  (Yikes!  The thought of past experiences of vinegar seeping onto the cracked skin around my fingertips just made me wince in pain!) My desire, as I am sure is yours, is to be part of the answer that sooths the hurt that people go through everyday, instead of one who just adds to the pain of the problem!

So, as you go out this week endeavor to talk and act as people whose words and deeds bring freedom to those with whom you find yourself interacting with.  Think of yourself as a cold compress on a bruised forehead. (I had that experience with my wife this weekend as she took a tumble in the garden and bumped her head.  She was pretty shook up, but calmed down rather quickly as I sat her on a chair in the shade and applied a nice cold compress on her head.  Thank the Lord that the swelling and redness was completely gone by the next morning!)

Have a great week.  Choose to make a positive difference in someone’s life this week.  Stay in tune to His Word and keep asking yourself… “What (or whom) am I expecting (to bless) today?”