“Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:15-17).

If your Christian faith is sincere it will make a difference in how you live. Faithfulness flows from faith. Let me share a story that makes the point and which further illuminates James 2:15-17.

There was a teenager who was paralyzed in a car accident. He needed to have his limbs massaged so that his blood would keep circulating. Throughout the day therapists did the massaging, but at night his father did it.

He would go to sleep in a reclining chair and set his alarm to go off every two hours. And every two hours he would get up and massage his son’s limbs. He would then go back to sleep—until his alarm went off again.*

He didn’t just SAY that he loved his son; he did something that SHOWED he loved his son.

My point is this. We don’t just SAY we love Jesus; we do things that SHOW we love Jesus. We don’t just SAY we believe; we do things that SHOW we believe.

Not only is this an indication that your faith is sincere, but it’s an indication that your life is medicine to someone who is hurting.

What an amazing gift from God. He has given us lives of promise and purpose!

Faithfulness flows from faith.

By Matthew Ruttan

–“Faithfulness flows from faith” is my latest sermon and is Part 4 in the Down-To-Earth series. Go here for YouTube or audio-only download options. 

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.

–*As told in: Max Lucado, 3:16—The Numbers of Hope (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2007), 30.