ConneXus Blog

Text: James 2:14-17

 14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don't show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, "Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well"—but then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?  17 So you see, faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

I'm reading a book right now authored by Dennis P. Hollinger, appropriately titled Head, Heart & Hands.  In it, he describes three different individuals who each have one of the triune characteristics of a whole person; he refers to these as Heart (the emotions or passions), Hand (the servant or action) and Head (the intellectual or thought).  He writes,"Taken alone, these types are deeply flawed and inadequate, for thought, passion and action separated from each other are in conflict with the way God created us.  Such a separation is inconsistent with what Jesus demonstrated in his own life." (15)

Each one of us tends to lean more towards one of these three areas more naturally than the others.  Since we are all created equal and yet uniquely different--each with individual characteristics, behavioral bents, and passions--we need to identify both our strengths and weaknesses.  We need to identify them so that we can work on them in order to become more Christlike.  Thankfully He is perfectly well-rounded in all these area's and His greatest delight would be to see them well-rounded in us as well.

So, if you are more of a thinking type of person, then perhaps you need to put some of that good knowledge into action loving and serving your neighbors. If you are passionate and driven strongly by emotions than it would do you well to but some thoughts behind your feelings and studying a little more.  If you serve others easily but don't truly understand what God's Word says about working out your faith, then you should seek to understand that better.  

Let God work with you this week to recognize what type of person you are (heart, hand or head) and then let him guide you into how to develop the others area's where you are lacking.