As you embark upon another year will you accomplish betters things for God, for others and for yourself? If you do more than just listen and if you apply what you learn then you certainly will. 2025 can be a great year for spiritual maturity but it is your choice.

It is said that President Franklin D. Roosevelt got tired of smiling that great big smile of his and saying the usual things at all those White House receptions. So, one evening he decided to find out whether anybody was really listening to what he was saying. As each person came up to him with extended hand, he flashed that big smile and said, “I murdered my mother-in law this morning.”

People would automatically respond with comments such as “How lovely!” or “Good to see you Mr. President” Nobody listened to what he was saying, except one foreign diplomat. When the president said, “I murdered my mother-in law this morning,” the diplomat responded softly, “I’m sure she had it coming, sir. I guess we all could listen a lot better. The reason that most Christians have a contradiction between what they say and what they do is because they never stop long enough to listen. I am sure God too is sadden at how half-heartedly we listen to him and respond. If we just lay claimed to this one principle for our lives as a New Year’s resolution and practice this truth it would change our lives. James said it best, “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only!

In this section James makes two major themes clear and helps us to understand what is important about them. First of all, he talks about a proper reception of the word and secondly a proper response to the word.

I How we receive The Word vv. 19-21

1. In this passage James gives five commands to explain how we should receive the Word of God. “The first thing that James recommends is that we become quiet. He says, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath The first is to be swift to hear… the Greek word translated swift (ta whos) occurs only one time in this one verse in the Greek concordance of the KJV. This is the word from which we get our English word “Tacho” and the word tachometer is derived from this. It means speedily.

When James wrote verse 19, he wasn’t just talking about our willingness to speak and not listen to others. He was talking about our willingness to speak and yet not listen to God. You can’t miss it from the context; “wherefore” looks back to verse 18, he says he brought us forth. He regenerated us. He raised us from the dead. He gave us life. He saved us, redeemed us by the word of truth.

We need to be more interested in hearing what God has to say to us than telling Him what we think! We need to hear the Word of God. I am convinced that people are much more interested in talking than to listening to God. Really, think about it, what is your reasoning for church?

2. The second command James said is to be slow to speak. According to Barna.com, in a given week about 37% of Americans will read their Bible, but 85% will pray. It appears to me that we are quick to speak, but slow to listen to what God has to say. “The still small voice of God cannot be heard unless one is still before him.

Be still, and know that I [am] God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. Ps. 46:10

3. The third command is to be slow to wrath. Don’t be quick to blow a fuse. The word will convict you and dig into your soul. Note verse 20; the purpose of the Word of God is to promote righteousness. Read with me Hebrews 4:12.

4. The fourth command in verse 21 is to lay aside all sin, both of action and attitude. He says, “all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness”. James means that we are to get rid of any dirt that accumulates and plugs up our ears so we can’t hear the word. You can become deaf because of accumulated wax…death because of the accumulated sin.  The word naughtiness is the wickedness remaining over in a Christian from his state prior to conversion. All sin, whether in action or attitude, impedes the reception of the Word of God. Note Psalm 66:18- If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me…

5. The fifth command for receiving the Word of God is to receive it with meekness. The word meekness means “power under control’. Have a teachable spirit. Come with the altitude that God is right and if I disagree then I am wrong” Humble yourselves enough to stop doing things your way. This enables the seed of God’s word which has been planted in us to grow and produce fruit. By not doing it we are rejecting it. Note that the word “engrafted” mean implanted word. The word can save your soul. —gospel

II How we Respond to The Word 23- 24 

1. This reminds me of what James said: “Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only” (1:22). If we read the Bible or listen as it is taught but then we fail to apply what we have learned, we are like as he describes in verse 23- 24 the man in the mirror that James expounds on next. (Glass didn’t come about until the thirteenth Century, most mirrors in those days were made of polished bronze which is a combination of copper and tin and latter steel.)

2. Simply receiving the word of God is not enough…we must apply what we have heard. We can look into a mirror and recognize that we have a dirty face, or that we need a hair-cut, a shave, or the makeup is running, but the mirror is not much good to us if we don’t actually do something about it. People might come up to us and say, “you know that you’ve got a blotch of ink on your cheek?” Would you say, “Yeah, I saw it in the mirror.” The knowledge is pretty useless unless we act on it! So folks, we all need to take a good look into God’s mirror.

3. We look in a mirror to see if there is anything we need to change. If we then walk away without remembering to change it, it is a waste of time looking in the mirror. James parallels this to someone who looks into the mirror of God’s Word and sees himself clearly. The sight is unpleasant and scary. He sees his error. He sees how far he has wandered from God. He sees his sin. Immediately, he forgets what he has seen about himself. He is distracted. He repeats the same mistakes. He does nothing to correct his relationship with God or others. Bad news!

Application: Isn’t it amazing how we can disconnect our behavior from our knowledge on a premise like that? We can hear something, even accept it as true, and never let it change our behavior. We can make excuses because we don’t want to be accountable. It’s disheartening & incredibly damaging when we are talking about our ability to hear and accept the Word of God and yet live lives of disobedience. Take a look into God’s mirror!

III Improving our Spiritual Appearance. Vv25

1. In v. 25, James says “The man who looks intently into the perfect law…”is blessed. What is the perfect law? -That Bible that you have right there in your hands. It’s perfect, because you can’t improve on it. You can’t make it any better than it already is. It’s as good as it can possibly be. It cannot be better. It is perfect. It’s called the perfect law of liberty. .

2. Now our spiritual appearance will be improved in two areas when we apply its truths. It will improve our character. We will become more and more and more like the characteristics of the Lord Himself. Not only is our character improved but also our conduct is improved. As we look into the mirror of the Word of God, we realize we’re not able to do it. But through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit we start to do that. “Uh oh, this is something I’m doing and the Word of God says not to do it.”

IV We Must not Deceived ourselves in the Word.vv.26- 27

1. A religion that pleases the Lord reveals itself in at least three ways, proper speech, pleasing service and positive separation. Just in case you don’t know what life looks like when God transforms you, James points it out in vv. 26-27 (read). When you let God’s Word affect you and determine to do it, it will cause you to seek purity in your own life and it will drive you to find ways to help others, especially those who can’t help themselves.

2. You see, the more like God you become, the less self-absorbed you will be. The more you listen to Him as if your life depends on it, the more you will be captivated by God and motivated by the needs of others to help. Christians’ personal ethics can be terrible. Some use profanity, some being sexually loose and caring little for morality. We can get this way when we put to strong of an emphasis on humanitarian results and not spiritual results.

Conclusion: God wants to change you but he won’t force His will on you, He wants you to want Him and receive His will because it is good for you. God loves you and he desires your submission because you love and trust Him. You need to apply His Word today to your life and trust Him for a better tomorrow and when we come once again to the crossroads of New Year we will have accomplish betters thing for ourselves, God and others.