Mirror Part Two
James 1:22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, . . an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.
1:27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
2:15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
How could we be doers if there were no suffering in the first place? What would there be that needs doing? Are we benefiting anyone by adding more comfort to comfort?
What if we had been affluent and, instead teaching our kids to work, we coddled them and gave them every desire? Would they ever even learn about joy in work or the satisfaction of accomplishing a task?
Prayer:
Philippians 3:7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.