Day 331- What good is faith?
📖Daily Reading
James 2
🎥 Video
Join me on my morning walk as we rise and shine together by walking through the Bible daily and learn a practical applicable coaching nugget from the ultimate life coach - our creator (whatever that means to you). No judgement zone here, all are welcome, we are all on a spiritual journey because we are after all spiritual beings having a human experience.
📝 Reflection
James 2: 14, 20-24
“What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?”
“How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?”“Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.”
What good is your faith doing? Is it producing good fruit and works in your life and for you and for others? This is the litmus test that James presents us with. Fruit aka results don’t lie. What are the results of your life saying?
When we are operating in our divine flow it should not only benefit us it should benefit others, it should be for the common good. This is how to tell if your faith and your desires are in alignment with God and with love, because God is love. We are each uniquely created and have a mission to complete here on earth if we choose to accept it.
When we wake up, realize it and have faith in love and possibility. We start living from the truth of how loved we are. We start doing what God has designed us uniquely to do. We get in diving flow. When this happens the ‘stars align’, it is good. It is good for us and for the common good. Can you imagine a world where we are all operating in our gifts, talents and calling? This is the goodness of what a life of faith can do.
Faith in life, faith in yourself, faith in your divine place in the divine. Faith in love, faith in God, faith in good works producing good fruit. You are doing it as a natural outpouring of your heart and soul, not because you are trying to earn or get anything. Not because you are entitled. Just because it is good and what your faith invites you to do willingly and freely. Faith without works is useless. Works without faith is dead and is just work and leads to death and requires law.
Here is one thing that I have noticed in myself and as a coach helping others ‘wake up’ and start living and walking in the faith that we say that we have. We can mistake negative self talk, guilt and shame as evidence of our faith being active. It is a very deceptive trap, similar to worrying.
We think that thinking about something a lot is the same as ‘doing’. We think even knowing and acknowledging that some of the things that we are doing that we know are not good for us is the same thing as doing something. So we especially deceive ourselves that negative self talk and self punishment is evidence that we are good. Ironically it feels ‘good’ to us and it confirms our goodness to shame ourselves. Does this resonate?
Have you ever thought about your relationship with yourself this way? And your relationship with worry and negative self talk this way? It can make us feel righteous without doing anything to change. In fact as we do this we also are likely increasing the negative and critical way we are relating to others. We start pointing out the speck in others eyes even with the log in out own. It is easier to talk than to do, and it is deceptive because it takes a lot of time, energy and attention to think and talk, we convince ourselves that we are doing. And that we are doing good to boot.
True faith and true action motivated by faith in love will produce goodness and righteousness, but not self appointed goodness and righteousness. What is truly good and beneficial for you will also be good for others. Good doesn’t always mean happy, comfortable and easy. Many things that are good for us are hard, uncomfortable and provide deep contentment and joy. Happiness is fleeting. Joy and peace are lasting and often must be purchased by pain and struggle.
Hard now usually means easier later, easy now usually mean it will be hard later. Goodness is often proceeded by and the result of self discipline and self denial. These are different than self punishment and shame. God and his love allow us to be fully human and imperfect. When we do something that isn’t good for us even though we know better, we can in God’s love, mercy and grace and with humility quickly admit our wrong, repent, repair, and go in a new way. We can also use it to teach and preach. This is good, this is loving, this is how our faith does good.
✍🏼Daily Journal Prompt
What are good is your faith doing? Are you operating in your divine flow? What are the results, aka the fruit in your life saying about what you have faith in? Faith in love or faith in fear?
📖Tomorrows Reading
James 3
Coaching Opportunity
My inaugural OWN IT! For Good! group & 1:1 coaching is well underway and it is amazing. The participants are absolutely loving it and experiencing major aha's, break throughs and life changing mindset shifts. Please let me know if you are interested in experiencing this as well, I am considering kicking off another group in January of 2023. Let's make 2023 the year of YOU by laying a solid foundational mind set! The world needs what only you have to offer! Give yourself the best gift ever, the best version of you is ready to rise & shine!
Book your free📞Wake Up Call today to learn if this is what you have been waiting for!
If you have stuck with me this far, then you are not reading this by accident, I believe God has a plan for you and is calling you forward!😉🤩
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