James 4:17 — Oopsies, I didn't know!

READ THIS: James 4:17

If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them.

 
WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

The last verses just spoke about bragging...so starting the next sentence "If anyone, then, knows.." you think he would say something about bragging, but instead he says "the good" and says that if we know what the good action is and we don't do it, then we're sinning. What's that have to do with anything we just spoke about yesterday?

If you think about ALL of James that we just read, you'll see that this whole time James has been laying out what is good for us to do and what is bad for us to do. It's good to think about trials with joy, but bad to think God is tempting us. It is good to listen to God's word, but bad if nothing changes about our lives because of it. The good/bad talk covers how we show our faith, how we use our words, what type of wisdom we're going to listen to, and whether we give God control. James has been telling us what is good and what isn't. Now that we KNOW, without a doubt, what is good, we need to do it. Now that we know bragging is bad, we shouldn't do it, and instead we should give all the credit and control to God! When we don't do that, we can't say "Oopsies, sorry, God, I didn't know that was bad," because we know what is bad and good through what we read in the Bible!


THINK ABOUT IT:

1. What is something that you KNOW is good for you/others that you don't do?

2. What's something that you do that you're not sure whether it's good or bad?

 
TRY THIS:

Figure out a keyword that would describe your answer to #2, and search it on this site to see what the Bible has to say about it! If nothing pops up, text/email/remind message Dan/Liz about it!

Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 8, 2023 at 4:30 AM

    Hmmmmm…something I KNOW is good that I DONT do
    … I’d have to say whenever I lie to someone or am mean to them, because I immediately feel bad or guilty or stressed afterwards.

    Something I’m not suure. Whenever I’m listening to music and it has a curse word or two or it references something bad, let me know your thoughts

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Grace Student MinistriesFebruary 8, 2023 at 3:30 PM

      We definitely know what you mean about music with cussing in it! Something that popped into my head was Matthew 12:34, where Jesus calls out the Pharisees and says: "You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of."

      If we fill ourselves up with cuss words or even words that don't build us up, it can flow into everything else we do! Also, when we surround ourselves with sin, it can be easy to slip into it...for example, if you struggle with cursing, you probably shouldn't listen to it too much because it's influencing you to continue doing it!

      Think about when we went through James 4:7... resist the enemy, and he will flee! If you are tempted to curse, you might want to ask yourself if curse words in music is something you need to protect yourself from!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Galatians 2:1-5 — Marathon Training

R EAD THIS:  Galatians 2:1-5 1 Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. 2 I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain. 3 Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4 This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5 We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.   WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Yesterday, we learned about how Paul went to Jerusalem and shared the incredible things Jesus did, but today, we are hearing about Paul's second time visiting Jerusalem... 14 years later. Paul talks about a bunch of things that happened ...
Read more

Luke 8:19-21 — Jesus's Fam!

R EAD THIS:  Luke 8:19-21 19 Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. 20 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” 21 He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Ummmm, hold up, is Jesus dissing on His family here? I mean, I know He is God's Son and all, but at first glance, this passage makes it seem like He is kind of hating on His family! However, if we really look into this passage, it's actually a lot more about us than it is about the family of Jesus.  In case you forgot, the last few passages have features Jesus telling and explaining different parables to a large crowd as well as His disciples. Clearly, the crowd has gotten so large that Mary and Jesus's brothers (yes... Jesus had brothers!) couldn't even reach Him. When someone told Jesus "hey dude, your fam is here an...
Read more

WELCOME BACK! Hebrews Introduction

WELCOME BACK TO DEEPLY ROOTED!!! Greetings fellow Bible readers and Jesus journey-ers! We're stoked to get back in the swing of things with y'all. For any new readers, this section would usually be where our handful of Bible verses will be. The section below would break down what in the world the verses mean. Then, there are some debrief questions for you to dive deeper and an application point. A new addition this year is the Song of the Week! We'll share a song that ties into the theme of the next few verses...if you gaze ahead and have song suggestions, comment below or text! HEBREWS INTRODUCTION: As with any book of the Bible, different Biblical scholars say different things about this letter, but we'll tell you the most probable take. So here it is: Hebrews is a letter written to a group of Jews who were being persecuted for deciding to follow Jesus. It is a letter to encourage them and to show that Jesus truly is the best person to follow despite how hard it was g...
Read more