"Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what is says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it-he will be blessed in what he does."
(James 1:21-25 NIV)
Why is this so difficult? If you read it literally, the difficult thing to do would be to forget what you look like. This is such a great analogy because it is so hard to forget something you have seen. Have you ever seen something you really didn't want to see? Everyone has so if you said no, you're lying! Old people in their underwear, dog gets sick on the carpet, you get the idea... As you are reading those examples, some image just came to your mind. Right? It is so difficult to forget a visual image. Christians who know what is right but do what is wrong often say, "It's complicated, you don't understand." What is there to understand? That is the point of the story. It should be harder to forget what you look like than to knowling go back to a sinful life. Do what it says. Why is it so hard to stop living adulterous lifestyles? Why is it so hard to share the gospel with others? Why is it so hard to give God some of your time? There is nothign complicated about it.
Follow the word in every way and you don't have to worry about what you look like.
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