James 1:19-27 - Doers Of The Message, Not Just Hearers

¹⁹ You must understand this, my dearly loved brothers. Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to get angry; ²⁰ for a man's anger does not produce the uprightness that God requires. ²¹ So strip yourselves of everything impure and all the evils prevailing around you, and in humble spirit welcome the message which when rooted in your hearts is able to save your souls.

²² Keep on obeying this message; do not merely listen to it, and so deceive yourselves. ²³ Because if anyone merely listens to the message without obeying it, he is like a man who looks in a mirror at his own face, ²⁴ for he looks and then goes off and at once forgets how he looked. ²⁵ But the man who looks at the flawless law that makes men free, and keeps on looking, proving himself to be, not a forgetful hearer but an actual doer of what it requires, will be blessed in what he does.

²⁶ If anyone thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives himself, his religious worship is worthless. ²⁷ A religious worship that is pure and stainless in the sight of God the Father is this: To look after orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep one's own self unstained by the world.