Growing with the Word
Last night, I was at bible study with come girls from my dorm floor. We're reading through the book of James for both bible study and our main chapel series, and it's really a great book. Last night, we read James 1: 19-26, which says,
"My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, because human anger dow not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word by does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in the mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks lie. But whoever looks intent and continues in it -- not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it -- they will be blessed in what they do. Those who consider themselves religious and yet to not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
We had a lot of great discussion about this passage, but there was one image that stuck in my brain the best. Our Barnabas (the leader), Laurel, was talking about how sometimes, it's really hard for us to love other people. We get angry at them and we aren't the quick to listen or speak kindly. We just lash out in anger, and, quite honestly, ruining relationships that could be so amazing.
She then showed us a video. It was simple: a seed growing into sapling. It was planted in a bit of rocky soil, but it still managed to grow into a beautiful plant. Then, Laurel explained that when you plant a plant in the wrong kind of soil, it won't grow. However, there are other kinds of plants that you can plant with the other, and it changes the soil so that the first plant is able to grow.
It was a beautiful image, but not just because plants are amazingly cool. She said that we are plants, surrounded by rocky soil of the things that are crappy in our lives: our sin, our regrets, our fears, and everything else. But when we plant the word with ourselves, it can begin to change the soil that's around it. It can take away the rocks in our lives, which is both so incredibly important and so incredibly powerful.
Learning to plant myself with the Word,
Carly
"My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, because human anger dow not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word by does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in the mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks lie. But whoever looks intent and continues in it -- not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it -- they will be blessed in what they do. Those who consider themselves religious and yet to not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
We had a lot of great discussion about this passage, but there was one image that stuck in my brain the best. Our Barnabas (the leader), Laurel, was talking about how sometimes, it's really hard for us to love other people. We get angry at them and we aren't the quick to listen or speak kindly. We just lash out in anger, and, quite honestly, ruining relationships that could be so amazing.
She then showed us a video. It was simple: a seed growing into sapling. It was planted in a bit of rocky soil, but it still managed to grow into a beautiful plant. Then, Laurel explained that when you plant a plant in the wrong kind of soil, it won't grow. However, there are other kinds of plants that you can plant with the other, and it changes the soil so that the first plant is able to grow.
It was a beautiful image, but not just because plants are amazingly cool. She said that we are plants, surrounded by rocky soil of the things that are crappy in our lives: our sin, our regrets, our fears, and everything else. But when we plant the word with ourselves, it can begin to change the soil that's around it. It can take away the rocks in our lives, which is both so incredibly important and so incredibly powerful.
Learning to plant myself with the Word,
Carly
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