“You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.” (James 2:19 NLT)

In Matthew 7:21, Jesus warns about the most tragic surprise imaginable. “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter” (NLT). In this context, He’s talking about false prophets who pretend to serve Him while they lead people astray with their lies. But His words apply to anyone who claims to be a Christian but doesn’t have a relationship with Him.

Well-meaning people who call themselves believers will find out too late that they aren’t. The devastating mistake they make is relying on their own ideas of what it means to follow Christ. I grew up in a Christian family. I’m a good person. I go to church every Sunday. I say my prayers. I was baptized. I receive communion. I tithe. I believe in God.

James counters their thinking with a stark reminder. “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.” Your faith resembles that of a demon. Now that’s a spiritual wake-up call!

But it’s true. Demons know all too well the truth about Jesus. The devil himself acknowledged that truth. Look at his words to Jesus during the temptation in the wilderness: “Since you are God’s Son, jump” (Matthew 4:6 MSG). The devil knew Jesus was the Messiah, the Savior. But he rebelled against that reality.

Knowing the truth about Jesus doesn’t make you a Christian. It’s a good start, but it’s not enough. Being part of a church doesn’t make you a Christian. It’s highly recommended for spiritual growth, but it’s not enough. Marrying a believer doesn’t make you a Christian. Your spouse’s faith doesn’t count for you.

Living a moral life doesn’t make you a Christian. You can’t follow Jesus on your own terms. In John 2:23–25, we read, “Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him. But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people. No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart” (NLT).

The people wanted what Jesus had to offer, but they weren’t willing to commit to Him, to put their faith in Him, to give their lives to Him.

Let’s make this clear. You become a Christian by admitting that you’re a sinner and that your sin has broken your relationship with God, recognizing that God’s punishment for sin is death, believing that Jesus died to take the punishment for your sin and rose from the grave to destroy the power of death, believing that Jesus’ death and resurrection is the only way to salvation and eternal life, and by confessing your sins to God, asking Him to forgive you, and inviting Jesus into your life.

Reflection question: How do you know that you’re a Christian?

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“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.” (James 1:19 NLT)

You can tell a lot about people by the things they’re quick to do and the things they’re slow to do. For instance, some people are slow to get to a party and quick to leave. Some people are quick to make a mess and slow to clean it up. Some people are slow to promote themselves and quick to praise others.

How would your family, or the people who know you best, describe you in terms of being quick to do one thing and slow to do another? How would you describe yourself? What do you think that says about you?

How well do you align with James’ model in the verse above—being “quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry”? Most of us get it completely backward. We’re slow to listen, quick to speak, and quick to get angry.

We listen just long enough to convince ourselves that we have pearls of wisdom to contribute. We’re quick to interrupt by offering advice or steering the conversation where we want it to go. And if our pearls of wisdom or attempts to “solve the problem” aren’t appreciated, we get angry and blame the other person.

This is a challenge many married couples face. When your spouse comes to you with a problem, instead of cutting him or her off by saying, “Here’s what you need to do,” try saying something like, “Tell me why this is bothering you.” And then listen—closely, and for as long as your spouse needs to talk. Even—and especially—if your spouse’s problem is with you.

Resist the urge to dismiss the problem as something insignificant. Find a way to work it out calmly. Avoid raising your voice. If you feel rage boiling up inside you, walk away until it goes away. Follow the advice of the apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:31–32: “Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you” (NLT).

Ruth Graham, the wife of Billy Graham, once said, “A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers.” That’s part of being slow to get angry. You must learn how to forgive, how to keep short accounts, how not to bring up things that happened twenty years ago. Remember, your goal is to work things out and find a resolution. Paul also says in Ephesians 4:26, “Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry” (NLT). So don’t go to bed angry at each other. Fight to resolve, not to win.

Of course, you can often avoid the anger by being quick to listen. And by being slow to speak—and making sure that when you do speak, you’re considering your spouse’s needs in that moment. And by keeping a long fuse on your anger by refusing to get mad about things that ultimately don’t matter.

Reflection question: How can you become quicker to listen, slower to speak, and slower to get angry?

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“What you ought to say is, ‘If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.’ Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.” (James 4:15–16 NLT)

James is talking to successful Christian business leaders. These are people who worked hard to reach the top of their field. You’ll notice that he doesn’t rebuke them for their success or their efforts to be the best.

No matter what you do for a living, if you’re a follower of Christ, you should strive to be the best at what you do. You should work harder than anybody else. You should arrive early to your job. You should leave a little later than others do. You should work cheerfully. And you should do everything for the glory of God, wherever you are.

God hasn’t called everyone into so-called ministry. He hasn’t called everyone to be a preacher. But He has called us all to minister and to serve Him and to bring honor and glory to Him, whatever our profession is. If you’re a doctor, attend to your patients for the glory of God. If I need surgery, I don’t want a preacher. I want a godly surgeon who knows what he’s doing. I may need a Christian attorney. I may need someone else in another field—in construction, in music, in art, in politics. We need strong believers in all fields to represent us well.

But in your striving to be the best, you need to maintain your focus and priorities. That’s what James is saying. He offers you a valuable reminder. He gives you the key to maximize your success.

The people James was talking to had lost their focus. They were believers, but they were living like atheists. They weren’t factoring God into their plans. So James reminded them to keep God’s will at the forefront of their lives.

Ultimately, every plan anybody ever makes is dependent on “if the Lord wants us to.” If you humbly acknowledge that and plan accordingly, God will bless your plans. That’s why Paul told the believers in Ephesus, “I will come back later, God willing” (Acts 18:21 NLT). And it’s why he wrote to the believers in Corinth, “I will come—and soon—if the Lord lets me” (1 Corinthians 4:19 NLT).

God’s will covers a lot of ground—everything you do, in fact. If you’re going to give it the consideration it deserves, it must be one of the first things you think about in the morning and one of the last things you think about at night. It needs to be a frequent topic of conversation with your spouse or loved ones. It needs to be the main focus of every prayer, every business meeting, and every decision-making process.

No matter what field you’re in, keeping God’s will at the forefront means thinking about what you’re sacrificing, thinking about what you’re prioritizing, thinking about how you’re using your resources—including your time, finances, and people—and making sure that they align with God and His will.

You can glorify God wherever you are and in whatever you do. Just remember to factor in His will.

Reflection question: How do you factor God’s will into your workday?

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