Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
James 1:21-24
A 2021 study from the National Institutes of Health examining nearly 500,000 physicians, found that more than one out of every five practicing doctors in the United States were smokers. The results surprised many, given that the dangers of smoking have been well documented for decades. Yet even among those who should be best-acquainted with the dangers of cancer and heart disease that accompany smoking, more than 20 percent continued the habit.
Knowing what is right and wrong—being able to identify which paths lead to danger and which lead to safety—does us little good unless we actually act on that knowledge. Yet that is often where the struggle lies. Social scientists even refer to “wet paint syndrome,” the tendency for someone to see a sign that says, “Wet Paint: Do Not Touch,” and feel compelled to touch it anyway. When warnings are ignored—or worse, treated as a challenge—trouble is never far behind.
If we want to experience victory in the Christian life, we must not only know what God’s Word says, but also do it. The path to victory is simple, but it is not easy. First, we must fill our hearts and minds with Scripture: “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11). Then, we must put that truth into practice. Jesus said, “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them” (John 13:17).
