James 1
Pastor Tina Wehner
At a recent leadership conference, I had a moment that I knew was going to be a memorable one. I listened as a Christian leader, Christine Caine, related an event that changed her life.
Christine talked about a routine ministry trip to Greece, designed to meet with some young women recently rescued from a sex trafficking scandal. As usual, she began to encourage one young girl with words of affirmation and scripture until, to her surprise, the girl responded… “If God loves me and if He is so good, why didn’t you come sooner?” Christine’s response: “You’re right. God does love you. I’m sorry it took ME so long to listen.”
In his letter, James exhorts us to be doers of the Word, not merely hearers. He also exclaimed in the final words of the first chapter… “look after orphans and widows in their distress…”
In the moments following Christine’s talk, I felt a sense of conviction and asked myself, “Have I been listening? What have I done to care for orphans and widows? What about these precious women who have been abused in the $12 billion sex trafficking industry, or the staggering 27 million affected by human trafficking throughout the world?” Since then, I have been praying for these women, asking God to give me a heart for them and for His Holy Spirit to lead me in how to respond.
Together, let’s be doers of the Word and impact the world for the saving sake of Jesus Christ. As we pour out His love, it removes the excuse that we weren’t listening.
When asked about a historical figure (not from the Bible) that she would most like to meet, Grace Covenant’s Community Groups Director identified C.S. Lewis to “hear about his journey through life and walk with God.”
