Where’s Your Heart At?

James is one of my favorite books of the Bible.

Written by the half-brother of Jesus, this book is straightforward and to the point. It encourages faith that gets put into action. In Chapter 2 of this book, James makes a bold statement:

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,

16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?

17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

- James 2:14-17

Faith without works is dead. That’s an uplifting sentiment, isn’t it? James doesn’t use flowery language to cover up the harsh realities of the gospel.

It is so easy for James’ words to be misunderstood, and it’s important to make some clarifications. I am not going to be pushing you towards a works-based faith. Your salvation is through Christ alone. Works are not required to gain access to the grace of Jesus. Ephesians 2:8 tells us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God…”

But it is also easy to take this freely given grace and ride it as a hall pass through life. James challenges believers towards a radical faith that naturally inspires action. He is pointing out a fact that is obvious to him. If I could translate his internal dialogue (which I’m surely not qualified to do), it might sound something like this:

“Don’t you guys get it? If you’ve really been changed by Jesus, how could you not live a life of serving others? How could you walk past someone suffering and not doing everything to save them? If you have faith then works just come naturally. It flows out of you!”

I think James is reminding us to take a heart inspection. Works must start from a genuine desire in our hearts. Where is your heart at? Are you focusing on yourself? Or on the saving grace of Jesus? And then, is that grace pushing you to focus on others?

I don’t want to give you a to-do list. I don’t want to list the same tired old reminders to help someone out and be kind. I want to encourage you to examine your heart. Because if it isn’t coming from a true desire in your heart, I think some reflection first is important. I believe the “Good Samaritan” mentality should flow naturally as the Holy Spirit is flowing through us.

If your heart is in the right place and you feel a natural desire to serve - praise God! In what ways might He continue to work through you this week?

If your heart is hard towards the idea of helping others (don’t be ashamed, we’ve all been there) - in what areas might you need to do some work to make room for Jesus to shape and soften you?

And maybe you’ve never had the experience of being filled with the Spirit to even know. Maybe you want to serve others, but you haven’t even acknowledged the faith piece yet. What do you want a relationship with Jesus to look like? Do you want to pursue him more closely?

I wonder what would happen if we all spent some time examining and realigning our hearts with Jesus. If we made space for him to shape our hearts and desires towards a radical love for his people.

Hearts like that could change the world.

Cristina Schmitter

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