Part 2 of James: Don't Forget Who You Are

James 1:19-27 (CSB)

19 My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, 

20 for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. 

21 Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 

23 Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. 

24 For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. 25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.

26 If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, his religion is useless and he deceives himself. 

27 Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Last week we looked at the first 18 verses of James 1. His focus was on how and why our faith is tested through trials and temptations that we face. Every trial presents a test of faith: will we let the trial build our endurance, or will we fall into temptation and miss out on what God wants to do in us?

We know that James is writing to believers. As James 1:1 states at the beginning, he is writing “To the twelve tribes dispersed abroad.” He continues by giving more instructions. Picking it up at verse 19, he says, “My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.”

This whole section of James is about identity—who we are in Christ, and whether we’re living like Christians are supposed to live. James is urging us: Don’t forget who you are. This directive is as applicable today as it was then. How many problems in our world could be avoided if everyone were to follow James’ counsel? How different would our homes, our churches, and our workplaces look if we actually lived this out?

I think there are two layers to what James is saying here. He is speaking in general, telling us that instead of running our mouths, hurrying to get our turn to talk, we should “be quick” to listen. Before we talk, we should listen to what the other person has to say. Then when we do speak, we should be “slow to speak” so we are careful and deliberate with the words we say. After all, Jesus says in Matthew 12:36, “I tell you that on the day of judgment people will have to account for every careless word they speak.” That warning should make us pause and choose our words carefully. Being slow to speak also helps us avoid saying things out of anger. I’m sure you’ve heard the advice to count to ten if you’re angry. It’s solid advice, for as James says, “Human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.” It’s better to calm down than to let anger cause us to sin. Have you ever said something in anger that you immediately regretted? Our anger will not produce the righteousness of God, for when we are angry, it’s harder to do the right thing.

The other thing that James is saying, and this is far more important, is that while we should be quick to hear what other people have to say, we are to be quick to hear what the Word is speaking. I say this because James then explains how we can hear God’s Word in verse 21. He says, “Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” As I’m sure you agree, this is far more important than listening to other people.

We are to put off sin and humbly receive God’s Word. Why are we to humbly receive the Word? Receiving the “implanted word” of God is how saving faith begins to grow in us. As Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.”

Rather than simply saying that we need to hear God’s Word so we can be saved, James is using a metaphor that Jesus used. He’s referring to God’s Word as a seed. That’s why he says we are to humbly receive the implanted word. Like Jesus’ metaphor of the seed and the rocky soil or fertile ground, if we are full of malice and filthiness, and if we are not humble, how can the Word take root?

One thing I really love about the Bible is that it all fits together so perfectly. It is proof to me that God Himself is the Author of Scripture, for we have so many different writers, but they all paint the same collective picture. That’s because there’s really only one Artist behind all the brushstrokes. Here in James, God continues His beautiful image of the Word being a seed that gets planted into our hearts. Let’s read what James is alluding to in Matthew 13:18-22, which quotes Jesus saying, “So listen to the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one sown along the path. And the one sown on rocky ground—this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. But he has no root and is short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away. Now the one sown among the thorns—this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. But the one sown on the good ground—this is one who hears and understands the word, who does produce fruit and yields: some a hundred, some sixty, some thirty times what was sown.”

If we want to humbly receive God’s Word, we should ask ourselves: Are we clearing the soil of our hearts, or are we letting weeds grow wild? If there is rocky ground, the seeds won’t grow, and any growth will be choked and could die off.

James then continues in verse 22 by saying, “But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Despite what some people think, this is not a controversial statement. He’s simply saying that we are to prove ourselves to be doers of God’s word. We are not to hear God’s word and then do nothing with it. We are to apply God’s word. What good is it to know God’s Word if we don’t live it out? We are to do what He says. Faith is a verb. It is an action. We prove our faith by how we act. As verses 23-24 say, “Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was.”

I really like how the CSB words this closely to the Greek. Some translations say, “forgets what he looks like,” which, honestly, has never made much sense to me. This clarifies that the person forgets what kind of person he was. That matches the point James made in verse 22 about the people who only hear the word but do not do the word. Those people are deceiving themselves.

We should ask ourselves: Am I willing to look into the mirror of God’s Word and allow Him to change me? Am I who I say I am? What would someone see if they looked at my life this past week? Would they see someone who belongs to Jesus?

I think this goes right along with humility. If we are humble, we will not think we are something that we are not. In humility, we won’t pretend to be something we are not. It makes me think of 1 John 1:8, which says, “If we say, ‘We have no sin,’ we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” If we know who we are, if we remember we are sinners who are saved by the merciful grace of Jesus and His sacrificial death on the cross, then won’t that make us more likely to want to follow Him and do what He says? Whereas, if we forget what Jesus has done for us, if we forget who we are apart from Christ, then won’t we be more likely to do what we want and not worry about following Jesus?

James is saying that if we consider ourselves to be a Christian but after hearing God’s Word we do not follow what it says, then we have forgotten who we are supposed to be. This is a problem, because if someone never follows the Word of God, are they really a Christian? Aren’t they deceiving themselves if they think they can be a Christian and deliberately choose not to follow God’s commands?

It’s easy to look at other people and agree with that last statement. But, this is problem though, that affects all of us Christians. Have you ever forgotten who you are in Christ? Have you let other people or the world ever define you and what it means to be a Christian?

James says that if we hear the Word but do not do what it says, we deceive ourselves. The danger is in deceiving ourselves into thinking that we are following the Word when possibly we are not. If we are proven to be who we say we are when we do what the Word tells us to do, then our actions should line up with God’s word.  

Explaining this further, verse 25 says, “But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.”

In this verse, we see two key truths about God’s law: it is perfect, and it gives freedom. Because it is perfect, it is not burdensome. Yes, Scripture contains many commands—but they’re not arbitrary or pointless. They are given for our good. That’s why James can say the person who lives by them “will be blessed in what he does.” God’s laws are for our benefit. Obedience leads to blessing.

Unlike human laws, which are often flawed and burdensome, God’s law is always good and always purposeful. Psalm 19:7–8 says: “The instruction of the Lord is perfect, renewing one’s life; the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise. The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad; the command of the Lord is radiant, making the eyes light up.”

Not only is God’s law perfect, but it also brings freedom to those who follow it. James describes God’s law as the “perfect law of freedom.” That phrase might feel like a contradiction at first. I don’t usually associate laws with freedom. Do you? Laws feel like restrictions.

But think about it: without any laws, we don’t get freedom—we get chaos. In anarchy, people don’t live freely; they live in fear, constantly threatened by those who wield power. True freedom requires order. Good laws create peace. When good laws are followed, people have peace.

Of course, human governments take laws too far and unduly burden their citizens, piling on laws that are too restrictive. That’s why James is clear that God’s law is different. It is perfect. It doesn’t bring oppression, it brings peace.

Psalm 119:165 (NASB) says, “Those who love Your Law have great peace, and nothing causes them to stumble.” When we follow God’s law, we’re not fighting against His will. We’re walking in alignment with His design. That brings peace. Sin disrupts that peace. It causes conflict and bondage. Sin doesn’t set us free—it traps us.

But through Jesus, we find real freedom. We find freedom from sin. As Jesus said in John 8:36: “So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.”

But here is the key: in order to follow God’s perfect law and have freedom, we first need to know God’s law. Looking at verse 25 again, it says, “But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.”

We need to look intently into the law so we can understand it. I am blessed to have inherited my grandfather’s Bible. He was a faithful pastor and scholar of God’s Word. His hand-written notes on this verse state that the Greek words for “look intently” can be translated as “bend down to see something better, look into something.” I like that word picture. We are to carefully look into God’s law. We are to get up close and personal to God’s Word. We can’t keep it at a distance and hope to understand it. We need to peer into it and really examine the Word. Only then will it have the opportunity to mold us and change us.

Again, though, note that we aren’t just supposed to look intently into it, we are to be a doer who works and perseveres at following God’s Word. Only then will we be blessed.

Finally, James concludes this section in verses 26-27, which say, “If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, his religion is useless and he deceives himself. Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

These two verses are often misunderstood, largely because the way the word “religion” is used here doesn’t mean what many think it does. It should really be translated as “worship.” James is not saying that the way a person can be undefiled and saved is by looking after orphans and widows and keeping oneself unstained from sin. He’s saying: if you try to worship the Lord, but you can’t control your tongue, your worship of the Lord is useless and you’re deceiving yourself. Genuine worship is expressed by loving those in need and keeping away from sin. Do you see the difference? James is not advocating for a works-based religion. He’s simply laying the groundwork for what he will be arguing for a little later in the letter: our actions need to match our confession. If we can’t even control our tongue, then what else aren’t we controlling? If we want to worship the Lord, we need to do what He says.

Again, he’s not talking about how to be saved. He’s simply saying our actions must match our self-proclaimed identity. N.T. Wright says in The Early Christian Letters, about verse 26, “A pious person with a foul mouth is a contradiction in terms. Such a person is deceiving themselves- but nobody else” (p.12).

James took it even further, though. He says that person’s religion is useless! If we don’t watch our words, our worship is worthless. Other translations say it is “in vain.” The Greek word here is mataios and it is translated as vain or useless. This whole passage is stressing the importance of our actions matching who we are supposed to be. If there is a contradiction, like N.T. Wright said, we have a problem, for we are deceiving ourselves.

So now that we know James isn’t talking about religion as we understand it today, but rather about worship of God, why do you think James says we are “to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world”? Those are two very different things. Why is that considered worship? I believe James is showing us that how we behave outside of the ‘temple walls’ is just as important as what we do within.

Some churches have a tendency to emphasize one or the other of these two things. I see churches that concentrate on what they call “social justice” issues but ignore the mandate to keep oneself unstained by the world. I also see churches that focus on holiness but sometimes ignore those outside their walls. James is saying we need to do both. We should care for those who need help, and also keep ourselves unstained or undefiled, pursuing holiness.

As with all passages from the Bible, the key to understanding this is to put it into the context of the entirety of scripture. When we do that, I don’t think we run into any problems understanding what James is saying. It is not a works-based religion; it is merely our good works lining up with our confession of faith.

If we want to be consistent and not a contradiction, we can’t forget who we are. We must apply God’s Word to our lives and do the actions of faith. We can’t claim to be a Christian, go to church and sing worship songs, but then throughout the rest of the week live contrary to God’s Word. If we do that, then we’ve forgotten who we are because we’ve forgotten what God’s Word says we are to be.

But why wouldn’t we want to follow His ways? After all, it is for our blessing and good. If we fail to live consistently with God’s Word and we act the opposite of what we know we should do, we have a decision to make. We can keep going and ignore the Holy Spirit and forget who we are. But remember what 1 John 1:8 says? “If we say, ‘We have no sin,’ we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” That path is leading us away from God. Or we can choose a different path, the one the very next verse offers us: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). That path keeps us on the path of righteousness. So, what will we choose? Which path will we take?

Even if we forget who we are and deceive ourselves, we are not without hope. We can confess our sin and He will forgive us, cleanse us, and help us change. He will remove the filth and wickedness from our lives and clothe us in His righteousness. That is where true freedom is found. Why would we ever settle for anything less?

So let’s not forget who we are. If we belong to Jesus, then we must live like it. Let’s look into the mirror of God’s Word and let it remind us who we truly are.

Bend down, look deeply into Scripture, and allow the Holy Spirit to transform your heart and mind—changing you into a clearer reflection of the One whose name you bear.

Let’s be Christians who reflect Christ’s love in every area of our lives.

Pray: Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your love for us. Thank You for sending Jesus to die in our place so we can find freedom from sin. Please help us by Your Holy Spirit to do what Your Word tells us to do. Help us to follow Your perfect law so we can be free from the burden of sin. Thank You for forgiving us when we fail to follow You perfectly. Thank You for giving us the righteousness of Jesus, in whose name we pray, amen.