Attributes of A Growing Christian

The Christian life was never meant to remain stagnant. Everywhere in nature where there is life, there is growth. A healthy tree deepens its roots. A child matures in strength and understanding. Even the changing seasons remind us that God designed life to move forward, not remain frozen in one condition. In the same way, when a person truly comes to know Jesus Christ, there ought to be evidence of spiritual growth.

In James chapter one, the Holy Spirit moves us from merely hearing truth to becoming living demonstrations of it. James does not present Christianity as an outward form alone, but as a transformed life that affects our words, our reactions, our relationships, and our obedience to God. He brings the truth down from the clouds and places it into everyday life. The growing Christian is not simply one who knows more Scripture, but one who increasingly reflects the character of Christ.

The passage before us — James 1:19-27 — reveals several clear attributes of a growing believer. James speaks about being swift to hear and slow to speak. He warns about the danger of uncontrolled anger. He emphasizes receiving the Word of God with meekness and becoming doers instead of hearers only. Finally, he shows that true religion is expressed through compassion, purity, and separation from the world's corruption.

These verses challenge us to ask honest questions: Is the Word of God changing me? Am I growing in self-control? Do others see Christ in my responses and attitudes? Am I merely religious in appearance, or am I being transformed inwardly by God’s truth?

The mature Christian is not marked by perfection, but by progression. Spiritual growth is the evidence that God is at work within us. Tonight, as we study these verses together, may the Lord show us not only what a growing Christian looks like, but also where He desires to continue His work in each of our lives.

1. RECEIVE THE WORD (1:19-21)

James called God's Word "the engrafted word" (James 1:21), which means “the implanted word." Borrowing from our Lord's parable of the sower (Matt. 13:1-9, 18-23), he compared God's Word to seed and the human heart to soil. In His parable, Jesus described four kinds of hearts: the bard heart, which did not understand or receive the Word and therefore bore no fruit; the shallow beart, which was very emotional but had no depth and bore no fruit; the crowded heart, which lacked repentance and permitted sin to crowd out the Word; and the fruitful heart, which received the Word, allowed it to take root, and produced a harvest of fruit.

The final test of salvation is fruit. This means a changed life, Christian character and conduct, and ministry to others in the glory of God. This fruit might be winning souls to Christ (Rom. 1:16), growing in holy living (Rom. 6:22), sharing our material possessions (Rom. 15:28), spiritual character (Gal. 5:22-23), good works (Col. 1:10), and even praising the Lord (Heb. 13:15). Religious works may be manufactured, but they do not have life in them, nor do they bring glory to God. Real fruit has in it the seed for more fruit, so that the harvest continues to grow fruit, more fruit, much fruit (John 15:1-5).

But the Word of God cannot work in our lives unless we receive it in the right way. Jesus not only said, "Take heed what ye hear" (Mark 4:24). bur He also said, "Take heed how ye hear" (Luke 8:18). Too many people are in that tragic condition in which "hearing they hear not, neither do they understand" (Matt. 13:13). They attend Bible classes and church services but never seem to grow. Is it the fault of the teacher or the preacher?

Perhaps, but it may also be the fault of the hearer. It is possible to be "dull of hearing" (Heb. 5:11) because of decay of the spiritual life.

If the seed of the Word is to be planted in our hearts, then we must obey the instructions James gave us.

Swift to hear (k. 19a). "Who hath ears to hear, let him hear" (Matt. 13-9)! "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17). Just as the servant is quick to hear his master's voice, and the mother to hear her baby's smallest cry, so the believer should be quick to hear what God has to say:

There is a beautiful illustration of this truth in the life of King David (2 Sam. 23:14-17). David was hiding from the Philistines, who possessed Bethlehem. He yearned for a drink of the cool water from the well in Bethlehem, a well that he had often visited in his boyhood and youth. He did not issue an order to his men; he simply said to himself, "Oh, that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate" (2 Sam. 23:15). Three of his mighty men heard their king sigh for the water, and they risked their lives to secure the water and bring it to him.

They were "Swift to hear."

Slow to speak (k. 19b). We have two ears and one mouth, which ought to remind us to listen more than we speak. Too many times we argue with God’s Word, if not audibly, at least in our hearts and minds. "He that refraineth his lips is wise" (Prov. 10:19). "He that hath knowledge spareth his words" (Prov: 17:27). Instead of being slow to speak, the lawyer in Luke 10.29 argued with Jesus by asking, "And who is my neighbor?" In the early church, the services were informal, and often the listeners would debate with the speaker. There were even fights and wars among the brethren James was writing to (James 4: 

1).Slow to wrath (k. 19c). Do not get angry at God or His Word. "He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly" (Prov. 14:29). When the prophet Nathan told King David the story about "the stolen ewe lamb," the king became angry, but at the wrong person. "Thou art the man," said Nathan, and David then confessed, "I have sinned" (2 Sam. 12). In the garden, Peter was slow to hear, swift to speak, and swift to anger—and he almost killed a man with the sword.

Many church fights are the result of short tempers and hasty words. There is a godly anger against sin (Eph. 4:26), and if we love the Lord, we must hate sin (Ps. 97:10). But man's anger does not produce God's righteousness (James 1:20). In fact, anger is just the opposite of the patience God wants to produce in our lives as we mature in Christ James 1:3-4).

I once saw a poster that read, "Temper is such a valuable thing, it is a shame to lose it!" It is the temper that helps to give steel its strength. The person who cannot get angry at sin does not have much strength to fight it.

James warns us against getting angry at God's Word because it reveals our sins to us. Like the man who broke the mirror because he disliked the image in it, people rebel against God's Word because it tells the truth about them and their sinfulness.

A prepared heart (v. 21). 

James saw the human heart as a garden; if left to itself, the soil would produce only weeds. He urged us to "pull out the weeds" and prepare the soil for the "implanted Word of God." The phrase "superfluity of naughtiness" gives the picture of a garden overgrown with weeds that cannot be controlled. It is foolish to try to receive God's Word into an unprepared heart.

How do we prepare the soil of our hearts for God's Word? 

First, by confessing our sins and asking the Father to forgive us (1 John 1:9). Then, by meditating on God's love and grace and asking Him to "plow up" any hardness in our hearts: "Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns" (er. 4:3). Finally, we must have an attitude of "meekness" (James 1:21). Meekness is the opposite of "wrath" in James 1:19-20. When you receive the Word with meekness, you accept it, do not argue with it, and honor it as the Word of God. You do not try to twist it to conform it to your thinking.

If we do not receive the implanted Word, then we are deceiving ourselves. Christians who like to argue various "points of view" may be only fooling themselves. They think that their "discussions" are promoting spiritual growth, when in reality they may only be cultivating the weeds.

2. PRACTICE THE WORD (1:22-25)

It is not enough to hear the Word; we must do it. Many people have the mistaken idea that hearing a good sermon or Bible study is what makes them grow and get God's blessing. It is not the hearing but the doing that brings the blessing. Too many Christians mark their Bibles, but their Bibles never mark them! If you think you are spiritual because you hear the Word, then you are only kidding yourself.

In the previous paragraph, James compared the Word to a seed, but in this paragraph, he compared it to a mirror. There are two other references in the Bible to God's Word as a mirror, and when you put all three together, you discover three ministries of the Word of God as a mirror.

(1) Examination (vv. 23-25). 

This is the main purpose for owning a mirror: to be able to see yourself and make yourself look as clean and neat as possible. As we look into the mirror of God's Word, we see ourselves as we really are. James mentions several mistakes people make as they look into God's mirror.

First, they merely glance at themselves. They do not carefully study themselves as they read the Word. Many sincere believers read a chapter of the Bible each day, but it is only a religious exercise, and they fail to profit from it personally. Their conscience would bother them if they did not have their daily reading, when actually their conscience should bother them because they read the ond careles carson fading of the Bible will never reveal our deepest needs. It is the difference between a candid photo and an X-ray.

The second mistake is that they forget what they see. If they were looking deeply enough into their hearts, what they would see would be unforgettable! We tend to smile at the "extremes" of people back in the days of the great revivals, but perhaps we could use some of that conviction. John Wesley wrote about a preaching service: "One before me dropped as dead, and presently a second, and a third. Five others sank in half an hour, most of whom were in violent agonies" (Wesley's Journal for June 22, 1739).

Before we consign these people to some psychological limbo, remember how saints in the Bible responded to the true knowledge of their own hearts.

Isaiah cried, "Woe is me! for I am undone" (Isa. G:5)! Peter cried, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord" (Luke 5:8)! Job was the most righteous man on earth in his day, yet he confessed, "I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (ob 42:6).

Mistake number three: they fail to obey what the Word tells them to do.

They think that hearing is the same as doing, and it is not. We Christians enjoy substituting reading for doing, or even talking for doing. We hold endless committee meetings and conferences about topics like evangelism and church growth, and think we have made progress. While there is certainly nothing wrong with conferences and committee meetings, they are sinful if they are a substitute for service.

If we are to use God's mirror profitably, then we must gaze into it carefully and with serious intent (James 1:25). No quick glances will do. We must examine our own hearts and lives in the light of God's Word. This requires time, attention, and sincere devotion. Five minutes with God each day will never accomplish a deep spiritual examination.

I have been fortunate with the doctors who have cared for me through the years, and l owe a great deal to them. Each of them has possessed two qualities that I have appreciated: They have spent time with me and have not been in a hurry, and they have always told me the truth. When Jesus, the Great Physician (Matt. 9:12), examines us, He uses His Word, and He wants us to give Him sufficient time to do the job well. Perhaps one reason we glance into the Word instead of gaze into the Word is that we are afraid of what we might see.

After seeing ourselves, we must remember what we are and what God says, and we must do the Word. The blessing comes in the doing, not in the reading of the Word. "This man shall be blessed in his doing" James 1:25, literal translation). The emphasis in James is on the practice of the Word.

We are to continue after reading the Word (James 1:25; see Acts 1:14; 2:42, 46; 13:43; 14:22; 26:22, for example, in the early church.

Why did James call the Word of God "the perfect law of liberty" (James 1:25)? Because when we obey it, God sets us free. "And I will walk at lib-erty: for I seek thy precepts" (Ps. 119:45). "Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin" (John 8:34). "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32).

But examination is but the first ministry of the mirror of the Word.

There is a second ministry.

(2) Restoration (Ex. 38:8). 

When he built the tabernacle, Moses took the metal looking glasses of the women and from them made the laver. The laver was a huge basin that stood between the brazen altar of sacrifice and the holy place. (Read Ex. 30:17-21 for details.) The basin was filled with water, and the priests washed their hands and feet at the laver before they entered the holy place to minister.

Water for washing is a picture of the Word of God in its cleansing power. "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you" John 15:3). The church is sanctified and cleansed "with the washing of water by the word" (Eph. 5:26). When the sinner trusts Christ, he is once and for all washed clean (1 Cor. 6:9-11; Titus 3:4-6). But as the believer walks in this world, his hands and feet are defiled, and he needs cleansing (John 13:1-11).

The mirror of the Word not only examines us and reveals our sins, but it helps to cleanse us as well. It gives us the promise of cleansing (1 John 1:9) and, as we meditate on it, it cleanses the heart and the mind from spiritual defilement. It is the blood of Christ that cleanses the guilt, but the water of the Word helps to wash away the defilement.

Nathan's experience with David in 2 Samuel 12 helps to illustrate this truth. Nathan told David the story about the stolen ewe lamb, and David became angry at the sin described. "Thou art the man," said the prophet, and he held up the mirror of the Word for David to see himself. The result was confession and repentance: "I have sinned against the Lord!" The mirror of the Word did its work of examination.

But Nathan did not stop there. He also used the Word for restoration.

"The LorD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die" (2 Sam. 12:13).

Here was the assurance of forgiveness and cleansing, and it came from the Word. David visited the laver and washed his hands and feet.

If we stop with examination and restoration, we will miss the full ben-

efit of the mirror ministry of the Word. There is a third ministry.

(3) Transformation (2 Cor. 3:18). 

After the Lord restores us, He wants to change us so that we will grow in grace and not commit that sin again.

Too many Christians confess their sins and claim forgiveness, but never grow spiritually to conquer self and sin.

Second Corinthians 3 is a discussion of the contrasts between the old covenant ministry of law and the new covenant ministry of grace. The law is external, written on tablets of stone, but salvation means that God's Word is written on the heart. The old covenant ministry condemned and killed, but the new covenant ministry brings forgiveness and life. The glory of the law gradually disappeared, but the glory of God's grace becomes brighter and brighter. The law was temporary, but the new covenant of grace is eternal.

Paul's illustration of this truth is Moses and his veil. When Moses came down from the mount where he met God, his face was shining (Ex. 34:29-35). He did not want the Jews to see this glory fading away, so he put on a veil to hide it. When he returned to the mount, he took off the veil.

When Jesus died, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom, and the veil between men and God was removed. The Old Testament prophet wore a veil to hide the fading of the glory. The New Testament believer has an unveiled face, and the glory gets greater and greater!

You may explain 2 Corinthians 3:18 in this way: "When the child of God looks into the Word of God (the glass, the mirror), he sees the Son of God, and he is transformed by the Spirit of God to share in the glory of God!" The word changed in the Greek gives us our English word metamorphosis, a change on the outside that comes from the inside. When an ugly worm turns into a beautiful butterfly, this is metamorphosis. When a believer spends time looking into the Word and seeing Christ, he is transformed: The glory on the inside is revealed on the outside.

It is this word that is translated "transfigured" in Matthew 17:2. The glory of Christ on the mount was not reflected; it was radiated from within. You will find the same word in Romans 12:2: "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." As we meditate on the Word, the Spirit renews the mind and reveals the glory of God. We do not become spiritual Christians overnight. It is a process, the work of the Spirit of God through the mirror of the Word of God.

The important thing is that we hide nothing. Take off the veil!

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” 

(Ps. 139:23-24). "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8).

Our first responsibility is to receive the Word. Then, we must practice the Word; otherwise, we are deceiving ourselves. This leads to a third responsibility.

3. SHARE THE WORD (1:26-27)

The word translated "religion" means "the outward practice, the service of a god." It is used only five times in the entire New Testament James 1:26-27;

Acts 26:5; and Col. 2:18, where it is translated "worshipping"). Pure religion has nothing to do with ceremonies, temples, or special days. Pure religion means practicing God's Word and sharing it with others, through speech, service, and separation from the world.

Speech (v. 26). There are many references to speech in this letter, giving the impression that the tongue was a serious problem in the assembly (see James 1:19; 2:12; 3:1-3, 14-18; 4:11-12). It is the tongue that reveals the heart (Mart. 12:34-35); if the heart is right, the speech will be right. A controlled tongue means a controlled body (James 3:1 ff.).

Service (v. 27a). After we have seen ourselves and Christ in the mirror of the Word, we must see others and their needs. Isaiah first saw the Lord, then himself, and then the people to whom he would minister (Isa. 6:1-8).

Words are no substitute for deeds of love (James 2:14-18; 1 John 3:11-18).

God does not want us to pay for others to minister as a substitute for our own personal service!

Separation from the world (v. 27b). 

By "the world" James meant "society without God." Satan is the prince of this world (John 14:30), and the lost are the children of this world (Luke 16:8). As the children of God, we are in the world physically but not of the world spiritually. 

(John 17:11-16). We are sent into the world to win others to Christ (John 17:18). It is only as we maintain our separation from the world that we can serve others.

The world wants to "spot" the Christian and start to defile him. First, there is "friendship of the world" (James 4:4), which can lead to a love for the world (1 John 2:15-17). If we are not careful, we will become conformed to this world (Rom. 12:1-2), and the result is being condemned with the world (1 Cor. 11:32). This does not suggest that we lose our salvation, but that we lose all we have lived for. Lot is an illustration of this principle. 

First, he pitched his tent toward Sodom, and then he moved into Sodom. Before long, Sodom moved into him and he lost his testimony even with his own family. When judgment fell on Sodom, Lot lost everything It was Abraham, the separated believer, the friend of God, who had a greater ministry to the people than did Lot, the friend of the world. The Christian doesn't need to get involved with the world to have a ministry to the world. Jesus was "unspotted" (1 Peter 1:19), and yet He was the friend of publicans and sinners. The best way to minister to the needs of the world is to be pure from the defilement of the world.

As we close tonight, James leaves us with a Christianity that cannot remain hidden in theory alone. The Word of God was never given merely to inform our minds — it was given to transform our lives. A growing Christian is not simply someone who attends church, speaks Christian language, or possesses biblical knowledge. A growing Christian is someone whose life is increasingly surrendered to God's work.

Perhaps tonight the Lord has spoken to you about your words. Maybe He has revealed impatience, anger, pride, or a lack of spiritual discipline. Perhaps He has shown you areas where you have been hearing the Word but not obeying it. The wonderful truth is that God does not expose these things to condemn His children, but to grow them.

Growth requires humility. It requires honesty. It requires a willingness to say, “Lord, continue Your work in me.”

No healthy Christian ever outgrows the need for repentance, prayer, and dependence upon God. The strongest believers are not those who think they have arrived, but those who continually desire to become more like Christ.

So tonight, let us not leave as hearers only. Let us ask the Lord to help us: To listen more carefully. To speak more wisely. To respond more graciously. To obey more faithfully. And to live in such a way that the reality of Christ is visible through us.

And if someone here tonight does not truly know Christ, understand this: spiritual growth begins with spiritual life. Before there can be maturity, there must first be salvation. Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose again so that you might be forgiven and made new. The greatest step you could take tonight is not merely becoming a better person, but becoming a new creature in Christ.

May we leave tonight with a renewed desire to grow in grace, to walk closely with the Lord, and to become Christians whose lives bear the unmistakable evidence that God is working within us.