Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world

 Good morning. We’ve seen what religion is not; now we see what religion should be - pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. It isn’t whether or not you talk the talk; it’s whether or not you walk the walk. Helping widows and orphans would be disdainful in the sight of religious people. They wouldn’t want to “get their hands dirty”. We can’t go out of the world; we have to live in it. But when you do, it is too easy for the world to “rub off on you“ - to put it’s “stain“ on you. James then admonishes us to not think that just because we are Christians that we are better than the “lowliest” people that come to church, and to give preference to the rich. Father help us to be mindful of those who are less blessed than we are, and when they come to church to treat them as equals with even the rich.

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