A few weeks ago, my girls and I decided to get tattoos. It wasn’t really spur of the moment in the true sense of the phrase. Peyton has been wanting mother/daughter tattoos for a while and since the three of us were together, we just went for it!
We each have a different dinosaur on our wrist. The theme is the same, but they don’t match. We were wanting something that identified us as a unit.
This got me to thinking about how I’m identified as a Christian. When people see me or talk to me, do they know I’m a believer? Do they recognize I put my trust in Him? Do my actions scream ‘I love Jesus!’?
In James 2:17-18 it says, “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may say, “you have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith BY (emphasis mine) my works.”
I LOVE that! This doesn’t mean that works saves you. What the scripture is telling us is that if you have faith (you are a believer), it compels us to do good work for the cause of Christ. When we walk in Christ, we produce faith-filled works that represent who God is and what He commands us to do. In Bible study, we say those actions are faith-based works and not a works-based faith!
The works we produce as believers bring about things like love, joy, peace, faithfulness, self-control….you might recognize these as some of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). I love looking at these two passages of scripture together!
When we see ourselves with a steadfast faith, we WANT to do things that show God in His glory. When we do those things, the people around us see who our Creator is. They see the power of an awesome Father who cares for His children. People see something ‘different’ in the Christian who is doing works because they love God and want to honor Him as opposed to the person who is doing works for the rewards or accolades.
I pray that this year we see mighty works completed and that our faith-based works bring glory to the one true God!
~Erin
Iron Porch 