Lessons From JamesSample

DEVOTIONAL

James was Jesus’ half-brother. Can you imagine the comparisons people must have made between them? I imagine at some point in his life James might have wished he was as wise, as followed, or as good as Jesus, and he might have compared himself to his perfect brother.

In Chapter 2 of the book of James, we see a clear warning against favoring one person over another. We are warned that no matter what someone looks like or what their status seems to be, it isn’t right to favor one person over another. We’ve probably all been in a situation where we’ve shown favoritism - maybe with our friends or in our family.

Today’s passage brings back Jesus’ teaching to ‘love your neighbor as yourself’. James challenges us to think about how we practically live out our faith and how our faith inspires us to serve others (v. 14-16). He calls us to love everyone regardless of who they are. Sometimes that can be hard and leads us to act differently from so many others in the world. But being a follower of Jesus means we get to act differently. The things we do, when we follow Christ, make our faith come alive. Faith in God is more than just believing but also about acting in ways that show God’s love.

QUESTIONS

• Can you think of a situation when you’ve favored one person over another?
• Think of situations where you can show the love of God when people least expect it - challenge yourself to live that out this week!

PRAYER

Lord God, show me today how I can be your hands and feet. Let me love authentically and serve your people today. Amen