Faith Full
Week one - It Takes Practice
James 1:22-27
Different types of memory:
1. Declarative
2. Episodic
3. Procedural, aka “Muscle Memory”
Everyday activities involve a complex series of tensing and relaxing muscles. This takes effort and concentration, but it gets more natural and efficient as we repeat the sequences. In other words, we get better and experience better results when we
We want to be “faith full” and not empty.
We want to love God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And so, we put all of our memory and our muscles to the task.
In other words, we
Context: temptation and deception are everywhere. We are constantly being formed, either unintentionally, or intentionally
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 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. —James 1:22-27
When we practice Jesus’ teachings and adopt the practices from Jesus’ life, our faith moves from our minds into the muscle memory of our bodies, forming us as
.
Practices of faith:
- Prayer
- Sabbath
- Scripture
- Community
- Fasting
- Hospitality
- Simplicity
Mirrors reflect what’s actually there -
We can reflect
Faithfulness is our most attractive attribute as followers of Jesus. —Crawford Loritts