Spend some time in a traditional church building or setting, and you will inevitably come across James 1:22. This famous scripture verse encourages us to be doers of the word and not merely hearers.

When I was younger, I was told that this scripture meant that I should be working hard to please God and to honor Him, and it created a form of bondage in my mind. Whenever I wasn’t working for God, I felt like I was letting Him down or that He was displeased. At deeper levels, such ideas could even cause a person to question their salvation.

So today we are going to have a discussion regarding what it means to be a doer of the word, and the answers we find may not be what you expect.