Live It

Text: James 1:19-27 (NLT)

Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.

But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

INTRO: The Mirror Moment

There was this one day I was rushing out the door. I had a meeting and was running late. I passed by the mirror, gave myself a quick glance, nodded, and moved on. Ten minutes into the meeting, I noticed everyone was a little distracted. That’s when I realized—a big chunk of powdered sugar from a jelly donut was stuck to the corner of my mouth. I had looked in the mirror but hadn’t seen. I had glanced, but I hadn’t actually looked.

James uses that exact kind of illustration in this passage. He says, some of us treat God’s Word like a mirror we only glance at. We see it, we nod, and then walk away unchanged. But the Word isn’t just information to admire—it’s transformation to be lived. James isn’t interested in how well you can quote Scripture. He’s after whether that Scripture has taken root in your daily decisions.

This passage is James’ bold call for the scattered believers to wake up and realize: the Christian life is not just about hearing the truth, it’s about living it. It’s a wake-up call for all of us who’ve settled into passive listening.

Point 1: A New Way to React (vv. 19-20)

"You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry."

We live in a world where everyone is quick to speak, slow to listen, and quick to get offended. Social media is the modern coliseum of hot takes. But James flips the cultural script entirely.

This isn't just a rule for better human communication—it's a call to approach God and His Word with a posture of deep humility. Listening is more than silence while someone else speaks; it's the act of opening your heart to receive something that might disrupt your comfort or confront your pride. It’s an act of surrender.

Paul Tripp writes, “No one gives grace better than someone who is deeply aware of how much they need it themselves.” That humility begins with listening—not just to each other, but to the Spirit of God through His Word.

When we don’t listen, especially when God is speaking, we reveal something about our hearts. We may be more interested in defending ourselves than in being transformed. But transformation begins with a pause—a willingness to say, "God, You speak. I’ll quiet down."

James is urging us: Stop reacting first. Start receiving. Listening isn't passive; it's the first move toward obedience.

When we are angry, defensive, and always talking, we close off the very Word that could heal us. As Tim Keller said, "Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it."

So James is saying: Lay down your pride. Turn down the volume of your opinions. Turn up the volume of God’s voice. And trust that the slow way of listening leads to the deep work of righteousness.

Point 2: A New Way to Receive (v. 21)

"So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts."

John Mark Comer says, “You can't follow Jesus and stay the same. Love will change you.” And he's right. The Gospel is not behavior modification; it's heart transformation. When we accept the implanted Word, it doesn't just trim our bad habits—it roots out the desires underneath them.

James uses the imagery of a seed. A seed doesn’t grow unless the soil is prepared. So he calls us to rid ourselves of the filth—that’s confession, repentance, and surrender. The Word grows in humility, not pride.

Love doesn't leave you as it found you. When you experience the love of Christ, it compels you to lay aside sin not out of guilt but out of joy. This is why James calls us to receive the Word humbly and to get rid of the filth in our lives. You can’t cling to Jesus with one hand and your sin with the other. Love leads to surrender, and surrender leads to freedom.

This is about confession. Repentance. Cleaning out the soul’s attic. And receiving God’s Word not as a podcast or a quote on Instagram but as life—a daily, driving force for your character and convictions.

Tyler Staton says, "We aren’t changed by hearing sermons. We are changed by doing what God says in them."

Point 3: A New Way to Respond (vv. 22-25)

"But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says."

Here’s the core: do the Word.

I once heard a story about a guy who went to the gym and hired a personal trainer. The trainer gave him a customized workout plan, nutrition advice, and a clear daily schedule. A month later, the guy came back and said, "Nothing's changed! I look the same." The trainer asked, "Did you follow the plan?" The guy said, "Well, no—but I memorized it. I framed it on my wall. I even started a podcast to talk about how good it is." But he never did it.

And this is James' point exactly. The blessing isn’t in the knowing—it’s in the doing. Transformation doesn’t come by admiring the truth; it comes by applying it. You can listen to sermon after sermon, read book after book, and still remain unchanged if the truth never leaves your mind and enters your calendar, your habits, your speech, your relationships.

James uses the mirror metaphor to drive this home—he says it’s like looking in the mirror and walking away, forgetting what you saw. In other words: no action, no change.

Obedience is where the Word of God meets the soil of our lives. It’s where faith becomes visible. As Jesus said in Luke 11:28, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."

Let’s stop asking, "What did I learn today?" and start asking, "What will I live today?" Christianity isn’t a spectator sport. It's a participatory life with Christ.

Craig Groeschel says, "We don’t rise to the level of our intentions. We fall to the level of our systems."

If you don’t intentionally apply the Word, it just fades. But when you lean into obedience, James says it leads to freedom and blessing. Not just rule-following, but soul-freeing. The Word isn't a weight—it’s wings.

Point 4: A New Way to Represent (vv. 26-27)

"If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue... your religion is worthless."

James now gets practical. Real faith shows up in how you speak. In how you serve. In who you see. It’s not just belief—it’s visible love.

The widow. The orphan. The ignored. The ones culture tosses aside—James says, that’s where your faith should go. Because that’s where Jesus goes.

As Reformed pastor John Calvin said, "True religion is not confined to the external observance of ceremonies but is seen most clearly in love for others."

James pulls no punches here. If your religion doesn’t transform how you speak to people, how you treat the vulnerable, how you respond to the broken and overlooked—then your religion is worthless. That’s not just James' opinion; it’s the Holy Spirit's standard.

This is the fruit of true faith. It shows up in everyday actions, not just Sunday morning affirmations. It shows up in how you handle interruptions, not just how you handle devotionals. James names the widow and the orphan intentionally. These are the people with the least power, the least visibility, and the least cultural clout. And James says: If your faith is real, it will be seen there. Not because you’re earning anything, but because grace is always outward-facing. Always.

The world doesn’t need more religious noise. It needs living proof. And that proof is found in a people who are slow to speak, quick to serve, and uncorrupted by the self-serving rhythms of the world. This is the call: that we would represent Jesus not just with our words, but with our lives—lives marked by compassion, integrity, humility, and holiness.

Gospel Connection: What If I’ve Failed?

Let’s be honest: we all fail at this. We speak when we should be silent. We hear but don’t do. We say we love God, but neglect the people He cares most about.

But the good news is, James isn’t calling us to earn salvation—he’s calling us to live out the salvation we’ve already received. It’s not about earning grace; it’s about evidencing grace.

And that salvation starts with the Gospel. That Jesus Christ lived out perfectly what we never could. That He was the Word made flesh. That He not only heard and obeyed, He laid down His life for those of us who didn't.

Romans 10:9 says, "If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

That’s the invitation. That’s the hope. And that’s the reset button you need if you’ve been walking in conviction today.

A Moment to Respond: The Sinner’s Prayer

If today you realize you’ve been hearing but not believing, or believing but not living—and you want to begin again, the Gospel invites you to respond.

Pray this with me:

"Jesus, I believe You are the Son of God. I believe You died for my sin and rose again. I turn from my sin and receive Your grace. Come into my life. Make me new. Help me not just to hear Your Word, but to live it. I trust You. I follow You. Amen."

CONCLUSION: The Mirror Revisited

You looked in the mirror today. Don’t walk away unchanged.

Let God’s Word not just be a moment of insight but a lifetime of transformation. Because when we live what we believe, the world sees Jesus in us. And that’s what this is all about.

Don’t just listen. Live it. And as you live it, watch how God transforms not only your heart but the hearts of those around you.