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

¹⁹ You know this, my dearly-loved brethren. But let every one be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to be angry. ²⁰ For a man's anger does not lead to action which God regards as righteous. ²¹ Ridding yourselves, therefore, of all that is vile and of the evil influences which prevail around you, welcome in a humble spirit the Message implanted within you, which is able to save your souls.

²² But prove yourselves obedient to the Message, and do not be mere hearers of it, imposing a delusion upon yourselves. ²³ For if any one listens but does not obey, he is like a man who carefully looks at his own face in a mirror. ²⁴ Although he has looked carefully at himself, he goes away, and has immediately forgotten the sort of man he is. ²⁵ But he who looks closely into the perfect Law--the Law of freedom--and continues looking, he, being not a hearer who forgets, but an obedient doer, will as the result of his obedience be blessed.

²⁶ If a man thinks that he is scrupulously religious, although he is not curbing his tongue but is deceiving himself, his religious service is worthless. ²⁷ The religious service which is pure and stainless in the sight of our God and Father is to visit fatherless children and widowed women in their time of trouble, and to keep one's own self unspotted from the world.