By: Doug Beyer, Atherton Resident since 2011

Scripture: James 1:27

What God the Father considers to be pure and genuine religion is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their suffering and to keep oneself from being corrupted by the world.

Questions for reflection and application:

  • What will I do today that shows God’s love for needy people?
  • What will I do to keep this world’s values from corrupting my faith?

Thought for today:

Pure religion has two parts: outer(taking care of the physical needs of others) and the inner(taking care of the spiritual needs of ourselves).In our hurting world there are many refugees and homeless, hungry and destitute, sick and afflicted who need our help. They want to see the evidence of our religion. We show the love of Jesus by reaching out to help them in his name. That’s just the first part of our faith. We live the Word not only by outer service to the world, but also by inner purity of life. No matter how busy we become in witnessing and helping others, we must avoid sin in our own souls. It is easy to get so involved in doing good that we forget the necessity of being good. Your responsibility today is to seek to make others happy and yourself holy. Never reverse that order and try to make yourself happy and others holy. John Piper: “If you live gladly to make others glad in God, your life will be hard, your risks will be high, and your joy will be full.”