What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? [James 2.14-16]
Faith yields fruit. I do not find it ironic that James first defines faith as helping the needy.
What? It's not moving a mountain? Well, that may be necessary at some point, but as grand as that may be, it would seem James placed priority on feeding and clothing the needy.
Maybe feeding and clothing the needy is the starting place for genuine faith - maybe?
Maybe we don't see more miracles because we are looking for mountains to move instead of mouths to feed? It should require no thought to know which is more important to God!
Now, the record shows that James did not downplay the miraculous as he went on to speak of the faith of Abraham and Rahab (which was not necessarily caring for the needy). So, be sure that I am not downplaying the miraculous in my statements here. However, I think it a foolish assumption for any believer to think they can skip right across James' first definition of faith (helping others) to get to what only serves himself!
Faith starts with compassion.
Father, help us to exercise our faith by starting with compassion.
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