9-22-2026 | Knowing and Doing?
“Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” - James 4:17
We live in a time when you can know almost anything in seconds… Need a Bible verse? Google it… Want a sermon on a topic?… YouTube has hundreds…. Spiritual growth tips?… There’s a podcast for that.
But here’s the tension in the facts….
“Access to truth is not the same as obedience to truth.”
The Bible doesn’t celebrate people who knew a lot about God…. It celebrates people who trusted and obeyed God.
Noah didn’t just know God told him to build an ark… he picked up a hammer.
Abraham didn’t just know God called him… he left home.
Peter didn’t just know Jesus said “Come”… he stepped out of the boat.
The gap between knowing and doing is where most of our spiritual frustration lives….
We say… “I know I should forgive them…”… “I know I should spend time with God…”… “I know I should step into that ministry…”… “I know I should stop compromising in that area…”… But many times… we stay stuck at “I know.”.
Knowing without doing hardens the heart…
When we repeatedly hear God’s word but don’t respond… our hearts don’t stay neutral… They grow dull.
Jesus said… “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24).
He didn’t say… “Everyone who hears these words of mine and agrees with them…”
The difference between the wise man and the foolish man wasn’t what they heard… it was what they did with what they heard…. It was in the doing not just the hearing…
Every time the Holy Spirit nudges your heart... and you say… “Later” … it becomes a little easier to say “later” again next time.
Jesus said… “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” (John 13:17)
Blessing isn’t attached to information… it’s attached to obedience…. You don’t experience the power of forgiveness until you actually forgive…. You don’t experience the peace of trusting God with your finances until you give and obey Him with what He has given you…. You don’t experience the joy of intimacy with God until you actually prioritize time in His presence… not just wish you did.
“Freedom doesn’t come from nodding your head in church…. It comes from aligning your life with what God has said.”
The Holy Spirit turns “I can’t” into “I will”….
So… Maybe you’re thinking… “I want to obey… but I keep failing.”…. The answer isn’t trying harder in your own strength… It’s depending deeper on His strength.
Philippians 2:13 says… “For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”…
Here’s a simple question for today…
Instead of asking… “What new thing does God want to show me?”… Ask… “What have I already heard that I still haven’t done?”…
“You don’t need a thousand new revelations…. You might just need one act of obedience.”