Has anyone ever told you to “prove it”?  As a child, I had one very extraordinary talent- I could say my ABC’s backwards.  No one ever trusted my parents when they said their two year old could do this.  So as you can imagine, I spent most of my childhood proving that I could say my ABC’s backwards.  The same goes for our relationship with Jesus.

Heart Change First
James says, “faith without works is dead” (James 2:17).  Seems a little contradictory since we all know we can’t earn our way into heaven.  But what James is saying here is when Jesus changes your heart, your actions always follow.  Your actions will naturally change if you are following Jesus and doing what He says.  We cannot earn our salvation through our actions, but our actions show others our commitment to God is real.

Faith Exposed by Action
Actions speak louder than words.  Sometimes what you do for someone matters more than what you say to them.  I remember when my grandfather passed away and so many people told me how sorry they were, how they were praying for me and how they cared about me.  I appreciated all their thoughtfulness; however, what meant the most to me were my friends that spent time with me, held my hand and let me cry.  Jesus was all about action.  If Jesus had just talked about the power of God people would not have believed Him.  Instead, Jesus walked the earth healing (Matthew 15: 29-31), performing miracles (Mark 8), and ultimately giving His life to save our lives (Luke 23).

True faith in Jesus transforms our hearts, which naturally transforms our actions.  James says, “Now someone may argue, ‘Some people have faith; others have good deeds.’ But I say, ‘How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds?  I will show you my faith by my good deeds.’” (James 2: 18)