Be a Doer, Not a Hearer Only

Be a Doer, Not a Hearer Only


There are people who use the excuse that they are working at

overcoming offense. But that's not what the Bible instructs us to do. The

book of James clearly states that only the doers of the Word will be

blessed.



"For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man

observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away,

and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into

the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer

but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does" (James

1:23-25).



A doer of the Word is not someone who merely listens to what the Word

says, but rather applies what he has heard to his life. How do you suppose

it would sound if someone said, "I am working at not lying"? If you

simply tell the truth, you won't lie! It's not those who are working at not

lying who are blessed, but those who speak the truth.



God doesn't accept the idea of "working on it" any more than you would

if your spouse said he or she was "working on" being married. Your

spouse would get the slack jerked out of him or her very quickly!



When someone states that they are "working on it," what they are

actually revealing is that they are not yet willing to obey God. Isn't that

right? It's a whole lot easier to justify yourself by saying that you are

working on something than it is to implement the Word of God or to

admit you're in sin. Many times you can con people with such statements,

but you can't con God because He looks upon the heart.



There is not one sin that the blood of Jesus cannot eradicate. His blood is

all-powerful. And as a result, there is no excuse for a Christian to be

offended. No one-no matter how heartbreaking, horrific, or desperate the

situation-can develop an excuse for being offended that is acceptable to

God.



You may have convinced yourself that your basis for offense is a worthy

one, but you will never persuade God. He gave His Son to die so that all

of humanity could be forgiven of their shortcomings. If you have

accepted God's forgiveness, then you must be willing to give it to others.

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also

forgive you" (Matthew 6:14).



There is no permissible excuse for disobeying God. When you stand

before Him and He asks you why you didn't obey His Word, you cannot

come up with an excuse that will satisfy God. You may offer an excuse,

but He will reply that He empowered you with supernatural ability to do

all that was written in His Word. All you had to do was make the

decision to obey. And the bottom line will be that you simply made poor

choices.



In the same manner, there is no acceptable excuse for harboring

unforgiveness because of an offense. Although someone always tries to

defend their reason for being offended by saying, "But you don't know

what they did to me, or how many years I have had to put up with it."

However, the Lord didn't exclude anyone when He said, "Whenever you

stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your

Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses" (Mark 11:25). So,

apparently it doesn't matter what the offense was, you are still required to

forgive.
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