Obedience Proves Your Faith

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? … Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.
James 2:14,17-18

As believers, we are to show our faith by the good deeds we do. We don’t do these good things in order to earn God’s favor or to somehow hold on to our salvation. Instead, we do them because the Holy Spirit is working in us, changing our lives and our focus.

So what kind of good deeds does God want? He wants obedience, whether that means trusting him, setting straight a lie, dealing with a gossip, taking time to study the Bible and pray, or doing an act of kindness for someone. A lifestyle of obedience requires a moment-by-moment decision to obey God in the little and big things that occur each day. Will we fail? Of course. Does messing up mean we aren’t believers? No. God works on us and in us little by little, like Michelangelo sculpting his famous David. God doesn’t make us perfect the moment we believe. Instead, we grow, mess up, learn from our mistakes and move on.

And we pray that our faith will show itself in good deeds as God continues carving his masterpiece little by little.

GOD’S PROMISE TO ME
• Your faith will show itself through your obedience.

MY PRAYER TO GOD
Lord, may my faith reveal itself in obedience as you continue to work in my life.