Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Read James 2:14-26

  "Actions speak louder than words" is one of the many phrases I remember hearing growing up.  I remember being very confused the first time I heard it.  I was a very literal thinking kid, and I could not grasp how actions were supposed to be loud.  I always wanted to respond with, "but what if you yell the words?"  Luckily, I never did as I can only imagine the punishment that response would have brought on.
  At some point I finally figured out what my parents meant by that statement, and have since adopted as one of my favorite.  It is one of my favorite because few cliche sayings are as true as this one.  Our actions speak louder than our words when it comes to our promises.  Our actions speak louder when it comes to how others perceive our love.  And, our actions speak louder than our words when it comes to our faith.
"Show me your faith apart from your works..."
  This section of James's letter was very challenging for me to understand the first time I studied James.  I had always been taught that you are saved by faith, and that your works cannot save you.  But reading this, it really seems that James is telling his readers that they are saved by their works.  So, which is it?  Does your faith save you or do your works save you?
  First I think we need to address the misconception about faith that I believe most of us share with the original readers of James's letter.  We often make the mistake of linking faith to just a belief.  It is a logical mistake because both are internal concepts.  Both start as thoughts and are mostly intangible.  But faith transcends belief.  Faith is a belief that dictates. 
  God had made a promise to Abraham that his decedents would become a mighty nation.  Abraham believed God, and that belief dictated his obedience to God when called to sacrifice his only son.   Rahab's belief in God dictated that she commit treason against her own people.  My belief that God is holy and that I have fallen short of His glory dictates that I need a Savior. 
  There are two things that I think this section of James's letter demands we examine.  The first is very simple to understand.  Your faith is only as good as what it is placed in. Let's say a doctor were to tell you that you are on the brink of heart disease and possible massive heart attacks unless you made changes to your life style.  Placing your faith in the healing power of bacon and fried chicken would not be wise, in fact it would only lead to a speeding up of your destruction.  We must make sure that in which we place our faith is the very best and most deserving of such a high burden.
  The second is much harder to swallow.  Our works will tell us and others what we have placed our faith in.  We  must be diligent in determining what it is in that we have truly placed our faith.  Jesus in Matthew 7:15-20, Paul in Ephesians 2:8-10, and James in this passage all declare to us that our external works will reflect our true internal faith.  We must be worried when our works do not reflect that which we think we have placed our faith in. 
We are saved by faith. But faith is much more than a cognitive belief. And, it is our works that declare to us and the world what we have placed our faith in.

I believe that everyone's faith is very personal and specific to their own relationship with Jesus, and that it will dictate different actions from different people.  But, I also believe that it will not dictate actions that do not line up with his word.  In light of that, here are 5 things I see in his word that our faith will produce in us. 

5 Things Your Faith Should Dictate
1.) Forgiveness - we will forgive others because Jesus has forgiven us
2.) Sacrifice - we will make sacrifices because Jesus sacrificed himself for us
3.) Serve - we will serve others because Jesus served
4.) Love - we will love others unconditionally because Jesus has loved us unconditionally
5.) Obey - we will obey because Jesus is worthy of our obedience