Faith without works is dead

I was reading in James this morning and was struck by the section on faith and works in chapter 2.  In verse 26, it says, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."  I pondered this and what it means and linked it in my mind with the scriptures we studied in Sunday School yesterday in 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus.  Here is basically what I came up with.  It will probably make more sense in my head than it does in writing, but I don't want to forget what I learned, so I am going to make a feeble attempt to write it anyway.

Faith without works is dead because it doesn't do anything for you.  It looks pretty, but lacks any substance.  When I looked at my sister at her funeral, she was beautiful, but it wasn't her.  There was none of the spark that made Kim so wonderful.  That had gone to heaven.  Faith has some of its beauty without works, but it lacks the ability to make our lives joyful and whole.  It lacks the ability to bring us closer to our Father in Heaven.  As it says in verse 19, "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble."  It is good to believe, but it doesn't do much for us on its own.

The Sunday School lesson yesterday was divided into three parts: Learn true doctrine, "be ye an example of the believers," and follow after righteousness.  We studied it in the context of Paul's statement that he had finished his course.  Learning and holding to true doctrine is like faith.  It is a starting point and helps us along the way.  In a race, it's like getting us to the correct starting line.  Being an example of the believers and following after righteousness are the works part.  It's the actual running of the race.  If we don't run the race, we won't ever finish our course.  The faith and true doctrine help us every step of the way, as through our works we move towards the finish line.  All the faith in the world, all the doctrine in the world, will never save us if we don't do what our Father asked us to do.  But if we try to be an example and follow after righteousness, the faith will enliven our efforts and help us to be more than we could be ourselves.  The true doctrine will strengthen us along our way and keep us going in the right direction. 

Truly, faith without works is dead.  But works without faith will never get us to our destination either.  They work together in our lives to help us come to Christ and put us in a place where his grace is sufficient to bring us eternal life.

How We Grow

Over the summer, I jammed my ring finger so hard that I broke a bone in my hand.  I went to the doctor and had a splint for a week and then got a cast put on.  When I got the cast put on, the doctor suggested that I do some physical therapy after getting it off.  I was hesitant, mostly because we have a high deductible plan and I didn't want to pay the money if I could get by without it.  3 weeks later, when I got the cast off, she once again said that I should get hand therapy.  My fingers could barely bend, so I accepted that she was right.  I walked out of her office with a few exercises to do and a referral to a therapist.

I did the exercises she gave me and made an appointment to see the therapist a week later.  With my own efforts, I made some progress and my hand was feeling pretty good.  My fingers didn't hurt unless I stretched them too far.  When I let them alone, I had no pain.  Then I went to physical therapy.  She stretched my hand, massaged it, helped me learn various exercises and used some heat therapy to encourage healing.  The next day, my hand was sore.  I didn't have to move it at all to feel the soreness.  But, the therapist told me that sore was good and that I should do my exercises 6-8 times a day, unless I was in pain.  So I did my exercises.  My hand and finger remained sore, but the progress was amazing.  By the time I went back to see her 3 weeks later, I had regained full range of motion in both of my fingers.  There was stiffness, but little soreness.

At that visit, she tested my hand strength and gave me exercises to improve my strength.  She told me that my finger would probably be sore throughout the winter and that my finger might not be back to its normal size for up to 18 months.

I realized this has some pretty great gospel applications.  When we go about our lives doing what we always do, there isn't a ton of discomfort.  But there isn't a lot of growth either.  But when we start to work to improve ourselves, we start to find more difficulty.  Sometimes it's hard to want to put in that effort when it feels so uncomfortable.  But if we don't experience the discomfort, we don't grow.  And the result of trying to improve ourselves is worth the effort.  But just like with my hand, sometimes things aren't quick and easy fixes. It often takes time and patience.