Are you a Doer or a Hearer?

Are you one who hears and consumes teachings or are you one who takes action and does?  We can so easily become consumers of information and get lost in the process of learning that we never actually take any action towards change and growth.  Which matters more?  Words on paper are just words until we choose to take action and do.  That goes for eating healthier, moving the body, prioritizing sleep, applying what we learn in God’s Word, applying what we learn in personal development books and in classes and so on.  If we just hear it and not DO it it matters not.

In a recent sermon I heard, the pastor taught from James and one of the passages really stood out to me.  In James 1:22 we read, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”  Deceiving your own selves.  Ouch.

I am not saying we do not need to hear and learn before we take action and do.  We most certainly need to be open to learning, but without the action behind what we hear and learn it will not facilitate change and growth.  Transformation occurs when we take consistent action and allow the process of change and growth to occur.  Is it easy?  Not typically.  But it is in the small, consistent steps we take in DOING where momentum is created leading to transformation.

As you start a new week, what is one thing you can begin to DO?  Maybe you have been contemplating cooking more healthful meals for yourself and getting a wider variety of vegetables in.  Can you pick one new veggie while out food shopping to incorporate and one new recipe to cook?  Maybe you have been learning more about how sleep affects overall physical and mental health and want to prioritize that for yourself but your current bedtime is midnight.  Can you commit to consistently going to bed by 11pm this week and then move that bedtime back a little bit more the next week?   Maybe you having been desiring to experience more of the love and kindness and peace you hear about in scripture.  Can you find a way to offer kindness and love to another this upcoming week, which in turn will bring YOU more kindness and love?

I am confident you have heard plenty in which you have yet to take action on.  Are you ready to be a DOER?  Leave a comment below and let me know if you are ready to be a DOER and what you are committing to!