Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Strength and Compassion:
Our Bible verse for today: “If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, eat well,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself.” James 2:15-17 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Real strength shows itself in acts of compassion to those in need.”
Over the years I’ve spent a lot of time in gyms that cater to serious weight lifters – especially on military bases. As a result, I’ve come to know a lot of men who are physically very strong. Most of those guys are fine men who are simply trying to stay physically fit. Unfortunately some of them are macho meatheads who are entirely too impressed with themselves. In their cases their great physical strength has resulted in what I consider to be serious character flaws. They may be physically strong, but they are weak in the much more important area of character development.
Similarly, for the last twenty years I’ve spent a lot of time with a wide variety of Christian leaders including pastors, missionaries, authors, deacons, etc. Most of them are fine Christians who faithfully and humbly serve Jesus and other people. Unfortunately some others are dogmatic, overly-opinionated, and unnecessarily confrontational. These men and women have developed a very narrow perspective of the Christian faith that doesn’t allow room for anyone who sees things differently than they do. Usually these people are pushy and overbearing, cold and demanding, and often they think of themselves as being very strong in the faith. But like our muscle-bound meathead friends, these hard-shell Christians are actually weaker in the faith not stronger.
The model of Jesus and the teaching of the New Testament actually call us to a different kind of strength. This is a strength that results in compassionate service to others. It is a strength that is clothed in a quiet sense of humility and a genuine desire to bless others. It is strength in the way that Jesus was strong.
This is what James was writing about in James 2:15-17. Words are cheap, it’s action that matters. If our faith is genuine and strong it will prove itself through compassionate acts to those in need. The easy thing to do in such cases is to mutter some empty and meaningless words of “blessing” and then quickly be on your way, leaving the person no better off than they were before you met them. In a spiritual sense, in terms of living your faith, this is a sign of weakness. The harder, but more Biblically correct action is to actually do something to help them.
Rather than speaking words of blessing I encourage you to be the blessing. A strong faith proves itself through humble acts of compassion to those in need.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 