James 1:22-25

Expanded Bible

²² ·Do what God’s teaching says; when you only listen and do nothing, you are fooling yourselves [^LBe doers of the word, and not only hearers, deceiving yourselves; Luke 11:28; Rom. 2:13]. ²³ Those who hear God’s ·teaching [word] and do nothing are like people who look at ·themselves [their natural face; ^Lthe face of their birth] in a mirror. ²⁴ [^LFor] They ·see their faces [gaze at themselves] and then go away and quickly forget what they looked like. ²⁵ But ·the truly happy people are [^Lblessed are] those who ·carefully study [look intently into; ^Lstoop down to look at] God’s perfect law that makes people free [^Cprobably refers to the law of Moses as it is fulfilled in Christ; 2:8, 12], and they ·continue to study it [persevere in it]. ·They do not forget what they heard, but they obey what God’s teaching says [^Lnot being a forgetful hearer but an active doer]. Those who do this will be ·made happy [blessed].